Palmnut Vulture
Scientific Name: Gypohierax angolensis Afrikaans Name: Witaasvoel
This curious, seagull-like vulture occurs in areas of forest, mangrove and marine shoreline, always in association with Oil or Rafia Palm groves. They feed primarily on the husks of these palm fruits but will supplement this vegetarian diet with crabs, fish and a variety of other scavenged food
This vegetarian diet is difficult to imitate in captivity because the palms only fruit once after 10 years and then die off. Our vultures seem to do fine on a variety of meaty dishes. These are very nervous birds and bounce around their enclosure at all times.