The Bearded Vulture
Conservation Status: Near Threated
Appearance
One of the biggest Old World (Asia, Africa, and Europe) vultures, the Bearded Vulture, or Lammergeier, boasts a wingspan that can reach 9 feet and 3 inches, or 2.83 meters, along with a maximum weight of 17.2 pounds, or 7.8 kg. As is typical with birds of prey, females are typically larger. Bearded vultures are fairly easy to identify, as they have unique, beautiful plumage and colors. For the most part, the vultures are dark gray, with white and cream feathers peppered around the wings. The cream color continues throughout most of the body, including their feathered head - an uncommon trait in vultures. Black feathers also adorn the head, forming a band around the eyes that leads down to bristles underneath the chin, forming the beard (hence Bearded Vulture). Bearded Vultures ,however, are typically seen as adorning rust and orange colored feathers throughout their body and head, not cream colored ones - this is not a naturally occurring coloration, and may come from dust-bathing, rubbing mud on its body, or drinking mineral-rich waters.
Range
Bearded Vultures are some of the most widespread vultures in the world, being found in three continents. They are widespread in range however, not in population, as populations are fairly sparsely distributed. They are found fairly exclusively in mountainous regions, rarely being seen at altitudes of less than 1,000 meters, or 3,300 feet.
Blank map of world originally from Wikimedia, before adding approximate vulture range. Some Rights Reserved.
Feeding
Bearded Vultures have one of the most unique diets of any animal of the planet - with bone marrow comprising up to 90% of their diet. They are still scavengers, and perform the typical clean-up job of eating carrion, but they focus almost exclusively on the bones. They are able to maintain this mostly-bone diet by having extremely acidic stomach acid (pH of 1). Even more fascinating is the fact that bearded vultures use rocks as tools, dropping bones too large to swallow from high altitudes onto them in order to break the bones - a skill that takes years for a juvenile to master. The majority of the bones come from mammals, primarily medium-sized hoofed mammals. Bearded vultures do, however, kill animals to eat more often than other vultures. They have a strong preference for tortoises, and they will often drop them from high up to crack their shells. Rock hyraxes, hares, marmots, and even a monitor lizard have all fallen prey to Bearded Vultures dropping them from high altitudes in order to kill and ultimately eat them. Some ungulates (hoofed mammals) have even been mass ambushed by groups of bearded vultures, which eventually kill and eat them. This preying of live animals (rather than carrion) by Bearded Vultures, is typically observed during the first months of breeding, along with higher selectivity of meat over bones - perhaps something that helps chicks better survive. It has been observed that breeding pairs may sometimes search for food and/or hunt together.
Image above originally from Wikimedia, taken by Francesco Veronesi. Some Rights Reserved.
Video of Bearded Vulture Cracking Bones with Rocks
Check out this beautiful video by Kunal Jain, from www.travelwith.in, of a Bearded Vulture cracking open bones.
Breeding
It has been observed that the breeding period varies for Bearded Vultures from region to region across different continents, though it tends to last over 10 months. Typically, breeding is conducted by biparental, monogamous pairs - and although Bearded Vultures are generally solitary birds, pairs have been observed to usually grow close. A pair will typically hatch at most two eggs, although three eggs have been recorded before. Eggs take about 60 days to incubate, and chicks are unable to fly until about 130 days after hatching. Still, it will be about two years until a juvenile is able to become independent, which is about one tenth of a typical wild Bearded Vulture’s 20 year life span. That being said, in captivity, Bearded Vultures can live for up to 45 years. It’s easy to tell a juvenile apart from an adult, as juveniles will sport a black head of feathers, which grows lighter until fully cream - not unlike the maturation of a bald eagle and its own feathers. The mating ritual for Bearded Vultures is also similar to that of bald eagles, with Bearded Vultures tumbling and spiraling while in solo flight, before also locking feet with each other while they fall through the sky.
Images above originally from Flickr, taken by Tambako the Jaguar (left) and Faris Algosaibi (right). Some Rights Reserved.
Conservation
Although Bearded Vultures have a conservation status of “Near Threatened”, not being considered an endangered species, Bearded Vultures nearly went extinct in Europe. They are found prevalently in Ethiopia and Tibet, but are considered highly endangered in Europe, particularly after it was almost hunted to extinction in the 20th century. Still, populations have been steadily decreasing throughout the world as these vultures face decreased living space, fatal collisions with power lines, a reduction in food availability, indirect poisoning, and direct persecution in the form of Trophy Hunting. Populations are decreasing much more rapidly in Europe than in Africa or Asia, and because of this, conservation efforts mainly focus on reintroducing Bearded Vultures to areas with low or no Bearded Vulture population. These efforts have seen great success in the Alps -with the once regionally-extinct species reestablishing a population in the mountains. The Pyrenees in Spain have also seen a resurgence of these beautiful birds.
Image above originally from Flickr, taken by Tambako the Jaguar. Some Rights Reserved.
Cultural Impact
The Bearded Vulture as an internationally revered bird, holding significance in Greek history and Iranian mythology.
The myths of Iran tell of the Homa bird (sometimes written as Huma), a symbol of luck and happiness - if the shadow of this bird passed over one, they would eventually rise to rule as a sovereign. If anyone dared kill the bird, they themselves would die in forty days. The name for the Bearded Vulture in Persian is Homa.
In ancient Greece meanwhile, people known as Ornithomancers would shape and guide decisions in politics. Ornithomancers were those who would read omens from very few species of birds - such as Bearded Vultures.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that Leviticus 11:13 in the Torah and Old Testament forbid the consumption of vultures - likely referring to the Bearded Vultures endemic to Western Asia.
Image above originally from Flickr, taken by Carole Raddato. Some Rights Reserved.
The picture is of a Griffin-like statue found in Iran. Statues like this are believed to be representations of the Homa bird.
References
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Beaman, M. and S. Madge. 1999. The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic. Princeton University Press.
Curtis, J. and N. Tallis. 2005. Forgotten Empire, the World of Ancient Persia. London: British Museum Press.
Donazar, J. A., F. Hiraldo, and J. Bustamante. 1993. Factors Influencing Nest Site Selection, Breeding Density and Breeding Success in the Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus). Journal of Applied Ecology. 30 (3). p. 504–514.
Ferguson-Lees, J. and D.A. Christie. 2001. Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus. Raptors of the World. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin. p. 413.
Houston, D.C. and J.A. Copsey. 1994. Bone Digestion and Intestinal Morphology of the Bearded Vulture. Journal of Raptor Research. 28 (2). p. 73–78.
Kruger, S., T. Reid, and A. Amar. 2014. Differential Range Use between Age Classes of Southern African Bearded Vultures Gypaetus barbatus. PLOS ONE. 9 (12).
Lammergeier (video, facts and news). Wildlife Finder. BBC.
Lammergeier Vulture. The Living Edens: Bhutan. PBS.
Marche, S. 2008. Flight of Fancy. The New Republic.
Margalida, A. and J. Bertran. 2008. Breeding behaviour of the Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus: minimal sexual differences in parental activities. Ibis. 142 (2). p. 225–234.
Phillott, D.C. 1906. Note on the Huma or Lammergeyer. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 2 (10). p. 532–533.
Pollard, J.R.T. 2009. The Lammergeyer Comparative Descriptions in Aristotle and Pliny. Greece and Rome. 16 (46). p. 23–28.
RÉINTRODUCTION. Le retour des gypaètes. Pro Gypaète.