Non-evaporative heat dissipation across the beaks and unfeathered skin of Old World vultures

This dataset contains infrared thermographic measurements collected from three species of African vultures to investigate variation in external body surface temperatures in relation to environmental conditions. Measurements were obtained from free-living birds across a range of ambient air temperatures and include corresponding atmospheric humidity data. For each individual, the dataset records bird identity, air temperature, absolute humidity, infrared-derived surface temperatures of exposed body regions, and the date and time of each observation. Surface temperatures were extracted from standardized thermal images and used to quantify thermoregulatory responses under varying environmental conditions. The dataset is organised into separate worksheets for each study species: Lappet-faced Vulture (LFV): Measurements for Torgos tracheliotos, including head, beak and neck surface temperatures. Cape Vulture (CV): Measurements for Gyps coprotheres, including head, beak and neck surface temperatures. African White-backed Vulture (WBV): Measurements for Gyps africanus, including beak surface temperatures. Each worksheet contains the following variables (where applicable): Bird_ID – Unique identifier for each individual bird. Air temperature (°C) – Ambient air temperature at the time of image collection. Absolute humidity (g m⁻³) – Atmospheric absolute humidity recorded during sampling. Surface temperature (°C) – Infrared-derived surface temperatures for the head, beak and/or neck, depending on species. Date – Sampling date. Time – Sampling time. These data accompany the manuscript by Wessels et al. (2026) and provide the raw measurements used to examine thermal windows and regional heat dissipation in African vultures.