The animal on the cover of Infrastructure as Code is Rüppell’s vulture (Gyps rueppellii), native to the Sahel region of Africa (a geographic zone that serves as a transition between the Sahara Desert and the savanna). It is named in honor of a 19th-century German explorer and zoologist, Eduard Rüppell.
It is a large bird (with a wingspan of 7–8 feet and weighing 14–20 pounds) with mottled brown feathers and a yellowish-white neck and head. Like all vultures, this species is carnivorous and feeds almost exclusively on carrion. They use their sharp talons and beaks to rip meat from carcasses and have backward-facing spines on their tongue to thoroughly scrape bones clean. While normally silent, these are very social birds who will voice a loud squealing call at colony nesting sites or when fighting over food.
The Rüppell’s vulture is monogamous and mates for life, which can be 40–50 years long. Breeding pairs build their nests near cliffs, out of sticks lined with grass and leaves (and often use it for multiple years). Only one egg is laid each year—by the time the next breeding season begins, the chick is just becoming independent. This vulture does not fly very fast (about 22 mph), but will venture up to 90 miles from the nest in search of food.
Rüppell’s vultures are the highest-flying birds on record; there is evidence of them flying 37,000 feet above sea level, as high as commercial aircraft. They have a special hemoglobin in their blood that allows them to absorb oxygen more efficiently at high altitudes.
This species is considered endangered and populations have been in decline. Though loss of habitat is one factor, the most serious threat is poisoning. The vulture is not even the intended target: farmers often poison livestock carcasses to retaliate against predators like lions and hyenas. As vultures identify a meal by sight and gather around it in flocks, hundreds of birds can be killed each time. Many of the animals on O’Reilly covers are endangered; all of them are important to the world.
Color illustration by Karen Montgomery, based on a black and white engraving from Cassell’s Natural History. The cover fonts are Gilroy Semibold and Guardian Sans. The text font is Adobe Minion Pro; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Dalton Maag’s Ubuntu Mono.