Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Kruuk H. (1967) Competition for food between vultures in East Africa. ARDEA 55 (3-4): 171-193
1. Six species of vulture in the Serengeti area, Tanzania, have carcasses as their sole, or main, food supply; the present paper deals with the question of their competition for food. Observations are reported on similarities and differences in their feeding behaviour, arrival and departure near carcasses, intra- and inter-specific aggression and relations with mammalian carnivores. 2. White-backed Vultures and Rnppell's Griffons fed from large carcasses by pulling out the softer meat; they had no other food resources. Lappet-faced and White-headed Vultures were much more likely to tear strips of meat and skin off bones, or to pick up the larger leftovers lying around the kill. They also occasionally killed their own prey. Hooded and Egyptian Vultures pecked up minute little bits from around the kill, the Hooded from the ground and the Egyptian more from bones; they also fed on garbage and insects. 3. Some morphological differences related to feeding habits are described. 4. White-headed Vultures were usually first to arrive and depart from near carcasses, the Hooded Vultures were the last and the other species intermediate. 5. Lappet-faced Vultures were more aggressive than other species, followed by Rnppell's Griffon. They were more successful in stealing food from other vultures. There were indications that all species fight their conspecifics more often than other species, whereas inter-specific attacks seemed to occur most often between species which share the same kinds of food. 6. Lappet-faced and White-headed Vultures kept further away from carnivores than the others, which impaired their chances of feeding. 7. It is thus shown that differences in feeding-habits, spotting abilities and aggression allow all these different species to use carcasses as their chief supply of food. However, in the case of the White-backed Vulture and Rnppell's Griffon, it is argued that they can co-exist in this area because of the limited number of nest-sites of the more aggressive species, Rnppell's Griffon. Their feeding behaviour is very much alike. 8. The overlap of geographical ranges is greatest between those species which show few similarities in feeding ecology. 9. The relation between vultures and ecology of the large mammals is briefly discussed.


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