Indian vulture
| Indian vulture | |
|---|---|
| Indian vulture | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Gyps |
| Species: | G. indicus |
| Binomial name | |
| Gyps indicus (Scopoli, 1786) | |
| Distribution in purple | |
The Indian vulture or long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) is a bird of prey native to the Indian subcontinent. It is an Old World vulture belonging to the family of Accipitridae. It is a medium-sized vulture with a small, semi-bald head with little feathers, long beak, and wide dark colored wings. It breeds mainly on small cliffs and hilly crags in central and peninsular India.
Indian vultures are a keystone species in their habitats. They have been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2002, as their population has severely declined over the past few decades. It is estimated that there are 5,000-15,000 mature individuals in wild.
The bird shares its habitat with two other vulture species (namely, the slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) and white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis)) in some parts of its range.