A majestic Palm-nut Vulture on the banks of the River Gambia

This one was posing majestically in a large tree on the island with the rehabilitated Chimpanzees in River Gambia NP. Interestingly, since these vultures almost never eat carrion, they lack the featherless head of most other vultures. This supports the idea that the lack of head feather evolved to prevent the head feathers getting covered and matted by blood while thrusting the head inside a carcass.