A well-dressed bird

Natural History, Nov, 2003 by Erin Espelie

Cutting the cake, carving the Thanksgiving turkey, or getting first crack at tearing into wildebeest flesh, as the case may be, is an honor usually bestowed upon the senior or perhaps showiest member of the dining party. On the savannas of eastern Africa, the Nubian or lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotus) is king of carrion. With thick, industrial-strength beaks, Nubians are often the only birds that can puncture tough hides--which makes weaker scavengers depend on them for access to the meat of a carcass. The massive vultures also use their might to fend off hyenas and snap up the occasional live flamingo.

Wildlife photographer Anup Shah was in Kenya's Maasai Mara National Park early one overcast morning, keeping his eye on a kill site, when the lappet-faced vulture pictured here arrived--unfashionably late. Minutes earlier, two lions had brought down a wildebeest, and already a spotted hyena, two black-backed jackals, and about twenty-five white-headed and Ruppell's griffon vultures were busily feasting.

The Nubian, after landing close by, did not attract much attention, so it opened its wings--a full nine feet across--to expose a puffed-up chest and downy underfeathers. "After swaggering around in an exaggerated manner," Shah said, the bird found a place among the others and commenced its meal. In less than an hour the assembled scavengers had picked the wildebeest's bones clean.

ANUP SHAH

A self-taught wildlife photographer, ANUP SHAH ("The Natural Moment," page 6) was born in Kenya of Indian parentage. He credits childhood visits to Nairobi National Park with helping him develop a powerful attachment to African fauna. Shah and his brother Manoj have since teamed up and have been awarded top prizes for their photographic work. Their latest collaborative book, The Circle of Life: Wildlife on the African Savannah, will be published next month by Harry N. Abrams.