Nripesh Awasthi: Wildlife and Nature Photography

Vultures Photography

1. Red Headed Vulture: Red headed vulture (Sunn Giddha), Sarcogyps calvus also known as Asian king vulture, is one of the vulture species enlisted as the Critically endangered species by IUCN Red list (2007). It is generally found in Indian sub-continent and also in some part of Southeast Asia. In Nepal, there are altogether nine species of vultures and it is one among them, mainly observed in an altitude of 2000-3000m from the sea-level. It has black body with red naked head, neck and legs with pale grey band at the base of flight feathers. The trend of its population in the world is in decreasing. The main threats to this species of vulture are found to be carcasses of animals treated with Diclofenac drugs, intensification of agricultural lands, increased sophistication of waste disposal techinques, persecution and diseases. Meloxicam as an alternatives drug to Diclofenac, proved as secure or safe one to vulture species. So, it is more advisable to adopt Meloxicam to protect this critically endangered species of vulture from being lost or extinct from the nature. Nowadays, Red headed vulture is rarely seen in compare to past, however it was photographed near to the Sajhghatt of Doti district in the Far-west Nepal during field visit March-April 2014. Though it felt nice to watch and photograph at the site, further study is essential to assure its status and habitat distribution in Farwest Nepal.

Red Headed Vulture in Simal tree (Doti district, Nepal)

Paired Red Headed vulture in Simal tree (Doti district, Nepal)

Red Headed vulture sighting towards photographer (pose)

2. Egyptian Vultures: Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) also named as Seto giddha in Nepali, is called White scavenger vulture or Pharaoh's chicken. This vulture species is kept in endangered of IUCN's Red list category. It is widely distributed in the world ranging from southern Europe to northern Africa and to the southern Asia. It's generally seen in dry plains and low hill, at an altitude of 915 msl (mean sea level) but may go up to 2000 msl in the Himalayas of Nepal during summer. It has identification features of yellow face, well fingered wings, wedge shaped tails, pale grey to white plumage with some buff on head and elongated nostrils with horizontal slits.

Egyptian Vulture

The photograph is taken during bird watching at Tutunga, Pokhara, a nice place to enjoy vulture watching. A team of Nripesh Awasthi, Bharat Panthi and Aditya Acharya has studied the status of Egyptian vultures as well as sites in Khaltemasina and Tutunga along the Seti river in Pokhara. A number of juvenile or young and adult Egyptian vultures had seen and observed in the field. The preliminary study found that both sites were potential for the survival of vultures in Pokhara but detailed study will recognize much other stuffs on their habitats, distribution and conservation threats.