The Egyptian vulture, also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture and the only member of the genus Neophron. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, West Asia and India. These vultures were sacred to the Goddess Isis and were even raised to the rank of deity in the case of Nekhbet, protector of Upper Egypt and the Pharaoh, who was depicted wearing a vulture-shaped headdress or with her head depicting a vulture. Her priestesses wore robes of white Egyptian vulture feathers. The adult Egyptian vulture measures 47–65 centimetres (19–26 in) from the point of the beak to the extremity of the tail feathers. In the smaller N. p. ginginianus males are about 47–52 centimetres (19–20 in) long while females are 52–55.5 centimetres (20.5–21.9 in) long. They are opportunistic feeders and will eat a large range of food that they encounter. Carrion comprises the majority of its diet, including dead birds, small mammals, livestock and large wild animals. It will often feed on the scraps of large carcasses after other vultures have consumed the majority of the soft flesh. The plumage of an adult Egyptian vulture is white, with black flight feathers in the wings. Wild birds usually appear soiled with a rusty or brown shade to the white plumage, derived from mud or iron-rich soil. Captive specimens without access to soil have clean white plumage. It has been suggested as a case of cosmetic coloration. The bill is slender and long, and the tip of the upper mandible is hooked. The nostril is an elongated horizontal slit. The neck feathers are long and form a hackle. The wings are pointed, with the third primary being the longest; the tail is wedge-shaped. The legs are pink in adults and grey in juveniles. The claws are long and straight, and the third and fourth toes are slightly webbed at the base. The bill is black in the nominate subspecies but pale or yellowish in adults of the smaller Indian ginginianus. The facial skin is yellow and unfeathered down to the throat. The sexes are indistinguishable in plumage but breeding males have a deeper orange facial skin colour than females. Females average slightly larger and are about 10-15% heavier than males. Young birds are blackish or chocolate brown with black and white patches. The adult plumage is attained only after about five years.

Conservation status: Endangered (Population decreasing)

Scientific name: Neophron percnopterus

Mass: 4.6 lbs Encyclopedia of Life

Lifespan: Up to 37 years 

Family: Accipitridae

Kingdom: Animalia