Basic behavior:

- Lappet-faced vultures are some of the biggest and most powerful birds in the Serengeti. Lappets dominate the avian scavenger food chain, which usually gives them the top spot at a carcass after the larger mammalian carnivores. Throughout the day, lappets will soar high above open areas, spotting carcasses by sight, or using other vultures as beacons. Their incredibly strong beak lets a lappet tear through hide and muscle with ease, much to the benefit of weaker vultures and scavengers. They lie near the top of the entire scavenger food chain, third to the spotted hyena and jackals in terms of efficiency. Lappet-faced vultures are diurnal, and roost within trees by night and at dawn they will look for circling vultures indicating where their next meal will be.

- Like other very large raptor species, lappet-faced vultures are not social birds. They search for food on their own, and do not communally roost or nest like other vulture species, though sometimes 2 or 3 individuals may nest in one large tree. Gatherings of up to 50 birds happen very rarely at huge carcasses or waterholes, but typically only 1 or 2 lappets will show up per carcass, though if it is a bigger carcass then more may appear.

- In Eastern Africa, lappet-faced vultures breed all year round. Their mating habits are somewhat of an enigma. While a pair may usually split after their first several years togethers, on rare occasions their pair bond may last for life.

- The nest is practically always constructed at the top of an acacia tree. Usually only one nest occupies a single tree, though sometimes 2 or 3 may be seen in a large acacia. The nest is huge, and lined with animal hairs and leaves. Both the male and female work together to incubate the egg and feed the chick.

- While their primary food source is still carrion, lappet-faced vultures, unlike other vulture species, are not opposed to hunting if the opportunity arises. They can hunt animals such as antelope fawns and small mammals by watching them from an elevated perch. They then drop onto their prey, stunning it with the impact and then ripping it apart/eating it alive. They may also feed on unguarded bird eggs if given the chance. While young or wounded prey is preferred, animals the size of adult flamingos have been recorded being killed by lappet-faced vultures. 

- Lappet-faced vultures are the most aggressive of African vulture species. While they may often find carcasses on their own, lappets will often assert themselves as the dominant scavenger at a carcass. They will bully and force other vultures, marabou storks, and even jackals away from a carcass. Most of the time, the animal being pushed away usually cedes to the lappet. Though, lappets will always wait for large mammalian carnivores such as lions and hyenas to move off a carcass. Due to their large size and formidable nature, lappet-faced vultures aren’t preyed on by any predator that much, though they are still wary of larger predators such as crocodiles and hyenas, and will move away or take flight if sufficiently spooked.

- Lappet-faced vultures don’t associate with other animals that aren’t either competition or potential prey. If something smaller than them gets in their space then the lappet may act aggressively to fend it off, but they won’t bother or go near animals that are larger than them, and they will move away if said animal acts aggressively.