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Griffon Vulture

Griffon Vulture

Gyps fulvus

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The Griffon Vulture is a massive Old World vulture with a pale, bald-looking head framed by a white ruff, broad two-toned wings and a short tail. It ranges from Iberia and North Africa across southern Europe and the Middle East into Central Asia. A cliff-nesting scavenger that often breeds in loose colonies, it spends hours soaring on thermals searching for carrion. It is threatened in places by poisoned baits and a shortage of carcasses.

Did you know?

  • While soaring it uses remarkably little energy – only about 1.4 times its resting metabolic rate.
  • By exposing more or less bare skin on its head and neck, it controls its body heat unusually well.

Voice

Sound

About the species

Identification

A very large vulture with long, broad wings, a shortish tail, a pale head and a clear pale ruff at the base of the neck. Overall pale or sandy brown, with darker flight feathers; it often glides with its wings slightly raised. Told from Cinereous Vulture, which is darker overall and lacks the pale ruff.

Family

Accipitridae

Size

Very large (swan)

Colours

brown, black, orange, white

About the habitat

Mountainous landscapes with cliffs for nesting, foraging over open country such as scrub, pasture and steppe; gorges and plateaus where updrafts aid soaring.

Diet

Carrion, especially carcasses of medium to large mammals, often shared in large groups. In times of food shortage it has been reported taking weak or newborn livestock.

Behaviour

An expert soarer that rides thermals with minimal flapping. It nests on cliffs, usually laying a single egg, and often forms loose colonies; most populations are resident. At carcasses dozens of birds may gather, with the oldest adults often dominant. Long-lived and highly social, it relies on wide-ranging flight to find food.

Sources

Photo: Pierre Dalous, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gyps fulvus in flight - Spain.jpg

Sound: Thomas SIGNEAU, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buitre_leonado_(Gyps_fulvus).wav

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_griffon_vulture

See also