Bearded Vulture

Bearded Vulture battle analysis

The bearded vulture is described as the only animal whose diet is based mainly on bone. Where other scavengers leave off, it arrives, swallowing ribs, vertebrae and leg bones whole. Anything too big it carries into the air and drops onto rocks, often at favorite smashing sites, until the bone shatters. Its stomach acid, below pH 1, dissolves bone within about a day, turning an almost useless food into a steady supply of fat-rich marrow and minerals.

It is also one of the most striking birds in the mountains. Adults have long, narrow wings spanning about 2.7 m, a diamond-shaped tail, a black "beard" under the bill and rusty orange underparts. That orange is not natural color: the birds bathe in iron-rich mud and springs to stain their white feathers, a rare cosmetic habit that researchers still debate.

As a fighter, the bearded vulture has little to offer. Its talons are weak, its beak is built for bones, and it avoids conflict. Its combat value lies in agile, low-cost soaring, excellent eyesight, and a clever drop technique that can kill small prey such as tortoises. Persecution once wiped it from most of Europe; today reintroduction and GPS tracking are bringing it back to the Alps and other ranges.

Habitat & range

Lives in high mountains and gorges: the Pyrenees, Alps (through reintroduction), Corsica, Crete, the Atlas, Ethiopian Highlands and eastern and southern Africa's mountains, the Caucasus, Middle East, and across Central Asia to the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. It needs cliffs for nesting and open slopes with wild or domestic grazing animals.

Diet & hunting

A bone specialist: about 70–90% of its diet is bone, supplemented by meat, skin and occasional live prey such as tortoises and small mammals. It feeds after other scavengers have stripped a carcass, filling a niche no other bird uses. Bones too large to swallow are dropped from height onto rocky ossuaries to break them.

Social life

Lives in territorial pairs, sometimes with a helper, that defend large mountain territories. Non-breeding young birds wander widely over thousands of square kilometres.

Conservation

Listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2014, with a decreasing global population estimated at roughly 1,675–6,700 birds. It was wiped out from most of Europe by persecution in the 19th and 20th centuries, surviving mainly in the Pyrenees, and has returned to the Alps and other ranges through reintroduction. Threats include poisoning (including veterinary drugs), power-line collisions, disturbance and falling food supply.

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