| Bearded Vulture | |
|---|---|
| File:Bartgeier Gypaetus barbatus front Richard Bartz.png | |
| Bearded Vulture, Gypaetus barbatus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Inopinaves |
| Clade: | Afroaves |
| Superorder: | Accipitrimorphae |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Subfamily: | Gypaetinae |
| Genus: | Gypaetus Storr, 1784 |
| Species: | G. barbatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Gypaetus barbatus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Subspecies | |
|
G. b. barbatus | |
| File:Beardedvulturerange.png | |
| Range of G. barbatus | |
Other names[]
Lammergeier or Lammergeyer.
Description[]
Length is 100–115 centimetres (39–45 in).[3] Huge and long-winged. In strong light, when upperparts look pale and merge with mountainside, often best spotted by dark shadowing moving over the ground [4].
Adult: underbelly light, whitish with a varying degree of buffish-yellow or often rather deep rufous-buff tinge (acquired through sand-bathing!), contrasting with its dark underwing [4]. In good light, lesser and median under-wing-coverts are darkest, being jet-black. Upperparts are lead-grey with pale feather shafts [4].
Females are larger than males [5].
Juvenile: Body is dull grey with contrasting dark grey head, neck and upper breast (like that of a Hooded Crow). Upperparts are not uniformly dark with lighter shafts (as on the adult birds) but are variegated; mantle, rump and some wing-coverts light [4].
Immature: Adult pattern is attained in about five years, subadults keeping the dark head rather long [4].
Similar species[]
Behaviour[]
Diet[]
It can eat parts of the carcass that other birds cannot digest, including bones, which it smashes by dropping them onto rocks from the air [5]. The food it always scavenges always contains bones and it will discard the flesh, preferring to extract the marrow [6]. It also drops live tortoises on rocks [6].
Calls[]
Usually silent; but during aerial displays at breeding sites, utters shrill, loud whistling notes or a trill [4].
Reproduction[]
Its nest is a platform of twigs with central hollow lined with grass, hair, skin, and bones, in a cave or on a cliff ledge [5].
Distribution/habitat[]
Mountainous areas and high steppes between 3,300-14,500 ft (1,000-4,500m) [6]. Nonmigrant [6].
References[]
- ^ BirdLife International (2009). Gypaetus barbatus. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)". The Internet Bird Collection. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ^ Arlott, Norman (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of the Palearctic Non-Passerines. Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. ISBN 9780007155651.
- ^ a b c d e f Mullarney, Killian; Lars Svensson, Dan Zetterström and Peter J. Grant (1999). Birds of Europe. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691050538. Cite uses deprecated parameter
|coauthor=(help) - ^ a b c Harrison, Colin and Greensmith, Alan (1993). Birds of the World. Dorling Kindersley Inc. ISBN 1564582965.
- ^ a b c d France, Peter; et al. (2007). Bird: The Definitive Visual Guide. Dorling Kindersley Inc. ISBN 1564582957.
External links[]
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