Which EDGE species will you vote for : The White headed vulture or the Adjutant stork? (Poll)

Fifth poll on EDGE bird species: This time a competition between the "unlovely" : The white headed vulture or the adjutant stork.

Both of these species are scavengers that feed upon carcasses / carrion and so perform a valuable ecological role and both birds have seen catastrophic population declines due to habitat destruction and poisonings with the vulture.





Which of these bird species interests you most / will you vote for ?

Please also feel free to write comments regarding why you made the choice and why the species you have voted for interests you more.

Thanks !

Look forward to seeing the results!

Photo credits to @ZooGirlSD and @Nod.

 

In your last three polls on EDGE species birds, I voted for secretary bird, shoebill and kagu; I deliberately chose these species because all three are the sole representative of their family.

Obviously I cannot apply the same logic here as neither the white-headed vulture nor the adjutant stork belongs to a monotypic family; consequently I found voting in this poll very much more difficult.

Both are very interesting birds so selecting one was hard but I eventually voted for the adjutant stork, simply because I have always had a fondness for storks; not a very scientific reason I'm sorry to say.

 

Thank you for voting and your comment @Tim May !

Yes, lol , I thought I'd make it a little bit more difficult this time around.

Absolutely fine to vote in that way as it doesn't have to be a vote based on scientific or conservation considerations and can be purely based on salience.

What is it about storks that makes you so fond of them do you think ?

 

I vote for the Adjutant Stork because of the efforts done in Assam to reverse the status of this species and its general image among the local people (it used to be quite reviled, now it's a local symbol of pride, just as more attractive and "sexy" species as Tiger and Rhino).
It's a very interesting achievement done in favour of an "ugly" species.

 

Yes it is an interesting species indeed and its very encouraging to hear about the efforts to conserve it in Assam and the way it has become a symbolic animal associated with local pride in their biodiversity.

I definitely agree with you by the way, and particularly because of the prominence in media, funding and research that large megafauna like tigers, rhino and elephant seem to get in India.

I found this video about the situation with the stork which is quite well made:

 

Again that's a difficult question to answer but both the greater adjutant stork and its close relative the marabou stork are grotesque creatures that have always appealed to me

 

I see, thats interesting @Tim May thanks for sharing !

Yes, I think they do have a really grotesque and sort of gothic appearance like something from a painting or woodblock print by Francisco Goya.

 

It’s a narrow victory, but I am going for the Vulture as it is the only member of its genus, and has a uniquely specialised role in a large guild of scavengers; nothing could easily replace it. The Adjutant could be replaced ecologically by a Marabou (although if you were being more specific about Greater or Lesser this could be different; I don’t know enough about niche partitioning between them).

 

Thank you for the comment and for voting @Tetzoo Quizzer !

Yes, thats right that the white headed vulture is monotypic and that it occupies a specialised role in the scavenger guild.

Have you seen either of these species in the wild by the way ?

 

I have seen both the Vulture and Lesser Adjutant, but not Greater.

 

Greater Adjutants are now inexistent in European zoos (cf. Zootierliste), unlike in the past.
I possibly saw these birds in Zoo de Vincennes in the 1990's, but I didn't pay attention to them (if they were still in this zoo).
There are still Greater Adjutants in Indian zoos where they bred recently. Maybe it's possible to see this species in zoos of other Asian countries and perhaps Americas.

Conversely White-headed Vultures aren't really rare in European zoos ; it's possible to see them in more than 30 parks according to Zootierliste.

 

Where abouts in Africa did you see the white headed vulture?

 

Yes, the stork definitely seems absent in zoos outside of Asia but given its status I wonder how long that situation will last and whether there wont be efforts made to establish the species ex-situ in European or US zoos.

I think it is great that the white-headed vulture is kept by so many zoos as given how badly it is faring in the wild it certainly needs an insurance population.

 

I need to search through my notes for the vulture sighting; I cannot recall it, so suspect it may have been in Botswana around 40 years ago...

 

No problem, still a very lucky sighting !

 

White-headed vulture a winner in this poll !

Here is a video of the species in the wild to celebrate its victory: