White-backed Vulture

Gyps africanus

Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Presence in the Strait: Vagrant
IUCN (global): CR · Critically endangered
In Spanish: Buitre dorsiblanco africano

Photograph: Lip Kee, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist

Length: 78–98 cm
Wingspan: 196–225 cm

Presence in the Strait

Accidental. Three immature birds appointments: Reservoir near Almodóvar (Tarifa) a dead bird collision with wind turbine on 25.06.09, in Cazalla Observatory (Tarifa) a bird on 09.07.08, and near Pelayo (Algeciras) a bird the 19.09.11.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Calendar in the Strait

33 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 19 September 2011
Latest record: 1 September 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: Outside the Red List (not assessed)
Global Red List (IUCN): CR · Critically endangered

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Griffon Vulture95–105 cm · Resident · overlapping size
Rüppell´s Vulture101–101 cm · Occasional

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
GBIF taxon key: 9487001

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Lip Kee, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026