---
title: "White-backed Vulture"
description: "Gyps africanus — Birds. The white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/white-backed-vulture
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# White-backed Vulture

> Gyps africanus — Birds. The white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks.

- Scientific name: *Gyps africanus*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `savanna` (Savanna)
- iNaturalist observations: 8978
- Wikidata: [Q281874](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q281874)
- iNaturalist taxon: [5363](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5363)

## Names

- en: White-backed Vulture
- de: Weißrückengeier
- es: Buitre dorsiblanco africano
- fr: Vautour africain
- nl: Witruggier
- pt: Abutre-de-rabadilha-branca
- pl: Sęp afrykański

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (3609), KE (994), TZ (947), BW (837), NA (618), ZW (322), ZM (279), UG (251), MW (132), ET (69), MZ (69), SN (56)

## Summary

The white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the most common vulture species in the continent of Africa.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-backed_vulture

## Photo

![White-backed Vulture](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/white-backed-vulture/medium.jpg)

Photo: louiskameel · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/325167550

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/white-backed-vulture?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).