Hooded Vulture, Ethiopia

Hooded Vulture, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

One of the more unusual birds I saw on my visit to Addis Ababa last December was this Hooded Vulture. In another post in a few days’ time I will show some close up photos of this species, but today I want to focus on this particular bird. It was soaring low over the oval of the international school where my daughter was teaching, Bingham Academy.

It was unusual for two reasons: I didn’t expect to see vultures on or near the school oval in the heart of the city of Addis Ababa, and I didn’t expect to see a large bird like this with a considerable portion of one wing missing. I have no idea as to why this bird was missing all those feathers but it didn’t seem to hinder its flying abilities one bit.

Perhaps my readers can suggest some possible causes.

Hooded Vulture, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia