Description
The Greater Yellow-headed Vulture is 64–75 centimetres (25–30 in) in length, with a wingspan of 166–178 centimetres (65–70 in), a tail length of 25–29 centimetres (9.8–11 in) and a weight averaging 1.65 kilograms (3.6 lb). Its plumage is black with a green or purple sheen. The throat and the sides of the head are featherless. The skin on the head ranges in color from deep yellow to pale orange with a blue crown. The nape and the area near the nostrils are pale pinkish. The undersides of the wings are black, while the flight feathers are a lighter shade. The quills of the eleven primary feathers appear to be white when seen from above. The tail is rounded and long for a vulture, extending to or slightly beyond the tip of the closed wing. The sexes are outwardly similar. The head is dull greyish in juveniles, which otherwise resemble adults.
The irises of its eyes are red, its feet are black, and its beak is flesh-colored. The eye has a single incomplete row of eyelashes on the upper lid and two rows on the lower lid. Its beak is thick, rounded, and hooked at the tip. Because of its habit of urohidrosis, the scaly portions of its legs are often streaked white with uric acid. The front toes are long with small webs at their bases and are not adapted to grasping. The opening of the nostril is longitudinal and set in a soft cere, and the nostril lack a septum. Like all New World Vultures, the Greater Yellow-headed Vulture lacks a syrinx, and is therefore unable to make any sound other than grunts or a low hiss.
It differs in appearance from the similar Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture in several ways. It is larger than the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, with a longer, broader tail. The plumage is a dark, glossy black in contrast to the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture's browner plumage. Its legs are darker in color and its head is more yellow and less orange/pink than that of the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture. Its wings are broader and its flight is also steadier. Unlike the other members of the genus Cathartes, the Greater Yellow-headed Vulture has relatively dark inner primaries, which contrast slightly with the paler secondaries and outer primaries. The Greater Yellow-headed Vulture prefers to live in forests while the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture prefers to inhabit savannas, and it is more heavily built than the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture. The Greater Yellow-headed Vulture is also somewhat larger than the Turkey Vulture. It can be distinguished from that species only at relatively close range by the differing head coloration. The underwing coloration is similar to the Turkey Vulture but the Greater Yellow-headed usually has a faint but broad and dark band vertically down the middle of the wings.
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