Bearded Vulture Fact Sheet

Common Name: Bearded Vulture / lammergeier / ossifrage

Scientific Name: Gypaetus barbatus

Wild Status: Near Threatened

Habitat: Mountains / Cliffs/ Canyons

Country: India, Tibet, and countries in Europe & Africa

Shelter: Nests in caves and on ledges

Life Span: Roughly 21 years in the wild, possibly up to 45 years in captivity

Size: 37-49 inches long, roughly 13 pounds, and a wingspan of 7.6-9.3 feet

Details

The Bearded Vulture is a bird of prey that can be found in many mountainous regions through Asia, Europe, and Africa. They are scavengers - a type of feeding behavior where the creature mainly or only eats dead animals and plants. Bearded Vultures are very unique scavengers due to the fact that they are the only animal that almost exclusively eats bones. In fact, up to 90% of their entire diet can be bone! For bones that are too big to swallow, the Bearded Vulture will often carry them hundreds of feet into the air, dropping them down to break into smaller pieces, giving them the bone marrow they love to eat. While they mainly eat bone marrow, they have been known to attack small animals such as hares, tortoises, hyraxes, and ground dwelling birds such as pigeons. They have a very long wingspan, often longer than 7 feet, and unlike most other vultures they do not have a bald head. The female usually lays 1-3 eggs in a clutch, and the eggs incubate for roughly 53-60 days.

Cool Facts

• In Iranian Mythology, the Bearded Vulture is considered a symbol of happiness and luck. • The other common names for Bearded Vulture are "lammergeier" which means "lamb-vulture" and "ossifrage" which means "bone breaker". • They were formerly believed to carry off human children, and because of this were often hunted which has led to population loss. However there was no justification for this fear as they have not shown hostility towards living humans. • Aeschylus, a Greek playwright, was said to have been killed by a Bearded Vulture who dropped a tortoise on his bald held, believing it to be a rock. • The closest living relative of the Bearded Vulture is the Egyptian Vulture.

Taxonomic Breakdown

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae Genus: Gypaetus Species: G. barbatus

Conservation & Helping

The Bearded Vulture is Near Threatened on the endangered species list - while population numbers are generally good, the species was largely wiped out in Europe, but has been successfully reintroduced in protected areas. The biggest threats to the species are habitat degradation, reduced food supplies, disturbances of nests, and collision with power lines. It is estimated that fewer than 10,000 pairs of this species exist worldwide.

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