3. NOTES OF THE BIRDS OF THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK

Mundy. P. J. &; Cook. A. W. 1975. Hatching and rearing of two chicks by the Hooded Vulture. Ostrich 46:45-50

The single-egg clutches of 10 pairs of Hooded Vultures Necrosyrtes monachus were doubled by the addition of one egg to each in the breeding season of 1971/72 at Sokoto, Nigeria. Three pairs hatched both eggs and a further two pairs hatched one egg each. Only one pair raised both chicks to fledging and, apart from a depressed weight gain and tail growth of the younger “sibling”, the chicks grew at approximately the average rate for the species. The average rate was determined by following 27 normal nests in the study area. There was no evidence of aggression between the “siblings”. It was suggested that the success of one adult pair in raising two chicks was partly occasioned by the chicks' ages being only four days apart, and by the unusually rich food supply available from nearby human activities.