Gyps bengalensis
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) is an Old World vulture native to South and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2000, as the population severely declined. White-rumped vultures are threatened by diclofenac poisoning, which kills them by causing kidney failure.
As of 2021, the global population was estimated at less than 6,000 mature individuals. In comparison, during the 1980s, the global population was estimated at several million individuals, and it was thought to be "the most abundant large bird of prey in the world".
It is closely related to the European griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus). At one time it was believed to be closer to the white-backed vulture of Africa and was known as the Oriental white-backed vulture. The white-rumped vulture was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the vultures in the genus Vultur and coined the binomial name Vultur bengalensis.
Gmelin based his description on the "Bengal vulture" that had been described and illustrated in 1781 by the English ornithologist... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 6 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Indian White-rumped Vulture sighting in Kanha National Park on a given day, based on 1,337 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 71st most-seen of the 286 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March to May
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Indian White-rumped Vulture in Kanha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to September, the lowest months. Those are among Kanha National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 430 mm in July.
Between 4 and 7 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian White-rumped Vulture sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
4th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Indian White-rumped Vulture sightings, Kanha National Park ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Mudumalai National Park (India, about 30%), Bandipur National Park (India, about 20%) and Nagarhole National Park (India, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian White-rumped Vulture is recorded against all the birds logged in Kanha National Park (1,337 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
