A vulture of plains and settlements on the Indian subcontinent. It circles in the air while searching for carrion.
Adults are dark with a white neck ruff and white rump patch; a white band shows beneath the wing in flight. Juveniles are browner, with a brown rather than white rump.
It feeds on dead animals and searches for food while soaring on rising air. Groups use communal roosts, and nests may be built in large trees or on cliffs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.