Hooded vulture
Necrosyrtes monachus (Temminck, 1823)
CRCritically Endangeredbirds of prey
The hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 2.04 kg to 2.08 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Critically Endangered.
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Quick facts about the hooded vulture
- Weight
- 2.04 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.83 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Scavengersrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 51 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the hooded vulture?
Photos of the hooded vulture
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the hooded vulture live?
Not recorded
What is the hooded vulture?
The hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) is an Old World vulture in the order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus Necrosyrtes, which is sister to the larger Gyps genus, both of which are a part of the Aegypiinae subfamily of Old World vultures. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it has a widespread distribution with populations in southern, East and West Africa. It is a scruffy-looking, small vulture with dark brown plumage, a long thin bill, bare crown, face and fore-neck, and a downy nape and hind-neck. Its face is usually a light red colour. It typically scavenges on carcasses of wildlife and domestic animals. Although it remains a common species with a stable population in the lower region of Casamance, some areas of The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau, other regions such as Dakar, Senegal, show more than 85% losses in population over the last 50 years. Threats include poisoning, hunting, loss of habitat and collisions with electricity infrastructure, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as "critically endangered" in their latest assessment (2022). The highest current regional density of hooded vultures is in the western region of The Gambia.
From the Wikipedia article “Hooded vulture” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hooded_vulture&oldid=1382237731), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the hooded vulture endangered?
The hooded vulture is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Critically Endangered species. What the categories mean.
How is the hooded vulture classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae
- genusNecrosyrtes
- SpeciesNecrosyrtes monachus (Temminck, 1823)
Synonyms Cathartes monachus, Neccrosyrtes monachus, Necrosyrtes monachus monachus, Necrosyrtes monachus pileatus, Necrosytes monachus, Neophron carunculatus, Neophron monachus, Neophron niger, Neophron pileatus, Percnopterus carunculatus, Vultur pileatus
Other names and names in other languages (51)
- HOVUEnglish
- MonnikaasvoëlAfrikaans
- نسر مقلنسArabic
- نسر مقنبعArabic
- Качулат лешоядBulgarian
- Gup kabellekBreton
- aufrany foscCatalan
- sup kapucínCzech
- fwltur cycyllogWelsh
- HættegribDanish
- KappengeierGerman
- ΝεκροσύρτηςGreek
- kapuĉa vulturoEsperanto
- Alimoche sombríoSpanish
- Buitre negro africanoSpanish
- munk-raipekotkasEstonian
- کرکس کلاهپوشPersian
- huppukorppikotkaFinnish
- Percnoptère brunFrench
- Vautour charognardFrench
- Badhbh chochallachIrish
- Bultoor vayrnaghManx
- AnguluHausa
- נשרון כיפהHebrew
- נשר אפור-כיפהHebrew
- smeđa crkavicaCroatian
- csuklyás keselyűHungarian
- HettugammurIcelandic
- Capovaccaio pileatoItalian
- ズキンハゲワシJapanese
- grifas vienuolisLithuanian
- kapuces grifsLatvian
- KapgierDutch
- hettegribbNorwegian
- sęp brunatnyPolish
- jagudiPortuguese
- Abutre-de-capuchoPortuguese
- abutre-de-capuzPortuguese
- Бурый стервятникRussian
- LuhkkaráhtogoaskinNorthern Sami
- sup čiapočkatýSlovak
- kapucasti jastrebSlovenian
- Crna kanjaSerbian
- kappgamSwedish
- Keşiş AkbabasıTurkish
- moTlhanka-wamanongTswana
- стерв’ятник бурийUkrainian
- Стерв'ятник бурийUkrainian
- IgúnYoruba
- 斗篷兀鹫Chinese
- 頭巾兀鷲Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the hooded vulture
Other species in the same family Accipitridae.
Golden eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
Eurasian sparrowhawk
Accipiter nisus
Eurasian goshawk
Astur gentilis
Black kite
Milvus migrans
Common buzzard
Buteo buteo
Bearded vulture
Gypaetus barbatus
CompareHooded vulture vs Golden eagleHooded vulture vs Eurasian sparrowhawkHooded vulture vs Eurasian goshawkHooded vulture vs Black kite
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the hooded vulture?
An adult hooded vulture weighs 2.04 kg and has a wingspan of 1.83 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the hooded vulture endangered?
The hooded vulture is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
What kind of animal is the hooded vulture?
The hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/hooded-vulture
“Hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/hooded-vulture.
@misc{hooded_vulture_2026,
title = {Hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/hooded-vulture},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}