Bearded Vulture

Gypaetus barbatus

Wingspan

250–290cm

Body length

100–115cm

Weight

4,500–7,200g

Profile

Life expectancy
Clutch size: 1–2 eggs
Global status
Activity
Migration

Identification

A very large, slender vulture with long, pointed wings and a long wedge-shaped tail by which it can be recognised from afar. The head is feathered; adults show an orange head with a black eye-stripe and beard.

Colours

Plumage

Eyes

Legs & feet

Adult · Rusty orange

Head, neck and underparts are stained rusty orange by external iron oxide deposits. Wings and tail remain dark, beard and eye mask black.

White and rusty orange are not genetic colour morphs. The pale feathers of adult Bearded Vultures are naturally white and are stained rusty orange by bathing in water containing iron oxide. The intensity can change in the same bird. Juveniles, regardless of this, have a mostly dark juvenile plumage.

Behaviour

Bearded Vultures soar close along cliffs, searching there for bones. After being wiped out, they have been reintroduced in the Alps since 1986; today more than 300 pairs breed there again. Young birds wander widely before establishing a territory.

Breeding & rearing

The nest is in a sheltered rock niche and is lined with wool and hair. Eggs are laid in winter; usually only one young is raised, which fledges after around four months.

Diet

Prey examples

Bones

Bones make up most of its diet: from the carcasses of dead chamois, ibex and sheep it takes the bones along with their marrow and swallows them whole up to the length of a hand. Scraps of meat and tortoises supplement the diet.

Hunting

Scavenging Dropping bones

The bearded vulture carries large bones aloft and drops them from 50 to 80 metres onto rock slabs until they break. It swallows the splinters and marrow whole; its stomach acid dissolves the bone.

Distribution

Range

Alps, Pyrenees, Caucasus to the Himalayas; East Africa

Status in Germany

Reintroduction

Habitat

High mountains with steep cliffs, gorges and open slopes above the tree line. It breeds in rock niches and uses updraughts along the ridges for its search flights.

Open mountain slopes with rocks and alpine meadows — Mountains

Rock faces and ledges above open scrubland — Rocky landscapes