---
title: "White-headed Vulture"
description: "Trigonoceps occipitalis — Birds. The white-headed vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis) is an Old World vulture endemic to Africa."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/white-headed-vulture
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# White-headed Vulture

> Trigonoceps occipitalis — Birds. The white-headed vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis) is an Old World vulture endemic to Africa.

- Scientific name: *Trigonoceps occipitalis*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `savanna` (Savanna)
- iNaturalist observations: 1240
- Wikidata: [Q755006](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q755006)
- iNaturalist taxon: [5392](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5392)

## Names

- en: White-headed Vulture
- de: Wollkopfgeier
- es: Buitre cabeciblanco
- fr: Vautour à tête blanche
- nl: Witkopgier
- pt: Abutre-de-cabeça-branca
- pl: Sęp białogłowy

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (457), TZ (139), BW (66), NA (63), ZM (58), MZ (57), UG (55), ZW (54), KE (47), MW (36), BJ (27), GH (21)

## Summary

The white-headed vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis) is an Old World vulture endemic to Africa. Populations have been declining steeply in recent years due to habitat degradation and poisoning of vultures at carcasses. An extinct relative was also present in the Indonesian island of Flores during the Late Pleistocene, indicating that the genus was more widespread in the past.

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

## Photo

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

Photo: Andrew Deacon · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/297543833

## Machine access

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