Bearded Vulture

Bearded Vulture
Bearded Vulture
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
(or Accipitriformes, q.v.)
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Aegypiinae
Genus: Gypaetus
Storr, 1784
Species: G. barbatus
Binomial name
Gypaetus barbatus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The Lammergeier, Lammergeyer, or Bearded Vulture, Gypaetus barbatus ("Bearded Vulture-Eagle"), is the only member of the genus Gypaetus. Traditionally considered an Old World vulture, it actually forms a minor lineage of Accipitridae together with the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus), its closest living relative. They are not much more closely related to the Old World vultures proper than to, for example, hawks, and differ from the former by their feathered neck. Although quite dissimilar, Egyptian and Bearded Vulture both have a lozenge-shaped tail that is unusual among birds of prey.

It eats mainly carrion and lives and breeds on crags in high mountains in southern Europe, North Africa, Southern Africa,[2] the Indian Subcontinent, and Tibet, laying one or two eggs in mid-winter which hatch at the beginning of spring. Populations are resident.

Contents

Description

Unlike most vultures, the Lammergeier does not have a bald head. This huge bird is 94–125 cm (37–49 in) long with a wingspan of 2.31–3 m (7.6–9.8 ft), and is quite unlike most other vultures in flight due to its large, narrow wings and long, wedge-shaped tail, which measures 43–52 cm (17–20 in) in length. It weighs 4.5–7.8 kg (9.9–17 lb), with the nominate race averaging 6.21 kg (13.7 lb) and G. b. meridionalis averaging 5.7 kg (13 lb). Females are slightly larger than males.[3][4]

The adult has a buff-yellow body and head, the latter with the black moustaches which give this species its alternative name. It may rub mud over its chin, breast and leg feathers, giving these areas a rust-coloured appearance. The tail feathers and wings are grey. The juvenile bird is dark all over, and takes five years to reach full maturity. The Lammergeier is silent, apart from shrill whistles at the breeding crags, and can live up to 40 years in captivity.

Behaviour

Boy with live Bearded Vulture, Kabul, 1973.

Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. It usually disdains the rotting meat, however, and lives on a diet that is 90% bone marrow. The Lammergeier can swallow whole bones up to the size of a lamb's femur[5] and its powerful digestive system quickly dissolves even large pieces. The Lammergeier has learned to crack bones too large to be swallowed by carrying them up to a height and then dropping them onto rocks below, smashing them into smaller pieces and exposing the nutritious marrow. This learned skill requires extensive practice by immature birds and takes up to seven years to master.[6] Its old name of Ossifrage ("bone breaker") relates to this habit. Live tortoises are also dropped in similar fashion to crack them open. Although dropping bones is a regular habit, the Lammergeier also obtains food by other means and has been known to seize and carry off live prey such as a two foot monitor lizard.[5]

Physiology

The acid concentration of the Lammergeier stomach[7] has been estimated to be of pH about 1 and large bones will be digested in about 24 hours, aided by slow mixing/churning of the stomach content. The high fat content of bone marrow makes the net energy value of bone almost as good as that of muscle, even if bone is less completely digested. A skeleton left on a mountain will dehydrate and become protected from bacterial degradation and the Lammergeier can return to consume the remainder of a carcass even months after the soft parts have been consumed by other animals, larvae and bacteria.

Habitat

The habitat is exclusively mountainous terrain (500–4,000 m/1,600–13,000 ft). An individual has been seen at 24,000 feet (7,300 m).[8] The bird breeds from mid-December to mid-February, laying 1 to 2 eggs which hatch between 53 and 58 days. After hatching the young spend 106 to 130 days in the nest before fledging. Typically, the Lammergeier nests in caves and on ledges and rock outcrops.[5]

Conservation status

Although the Lammergeier is threatened within its range in Europe, the species has a large range across Asia and Africa and is relatively common across much of that range. As such the species is listed as least concern by the IUCN and BirdLife International, although there is some evidence of decline. It was formerly killed in significant numbers because people feared (without justification) that it carried off children and domestic animals; the bird was also hunted as a trophy.[9]

Etymology

This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Vultur barbatus.[10] The name of the Lammergeier originates from German Lämmergeier, which means "lamb-vulture" or "lamb-hawk". The name stems from the belief that it attacked lambs.[11]

Legend

The Greek playwright Aeschylus was said to have been killed in 456 or 455 BC by a tortoise dropped by an eagle who mistook his bald head for a stone – if this incident did occur, the Lammergeier is a likely candidate for the "eagle".

More recently, in 1945, it is said that Shimon Peres (called Shimon Persky at the time) and David Ben-Gurion found a nest of Bearded Vultures in the Negev desert. The bird is called peres in Hebrew, and Shimon Persky liked it so much he adopted it as his surname.[12]

Bearded Vulture is considered a threatened species in Iran. Iranian mythology considers the rare Lammergeier the symbol of luck and happiness. It was believed that if the shadow of a Huma fell on one, he would rise to sovereignty.[13]

Footnotes

  1. ^ IUCN redlist.
  2. ^ http://www.africanraptors.org/conservation-of-the-bearded-vulture-gypaetus-barbatus-meridionalis-by-sonja-kruger/
  3. ^ Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001, p. 417.
  4. ^ Beaman, Mark & Madge, Steve, The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic. Princeton University Press (1999), ISBN 978-0691027265
  5. ^ a b c "The Living Edens — Bhutan — Lammergeier Vulture". pbs.org. PBS. http://www.pbs.org/edens/bhutan/a_lv.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-30. 
  6. ^ "Wildlife Finder — Lammergeier (video, facts and news)". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/Bearded_Vulture. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 
  7. ^ "Bone digestion - bearded vulture". Houston_D.C. & Copsey_J.A. 1994 J.Raptor Res. 28:73-78. Raptor Research Foundation. http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/jrr/v028n02/p00073-p00078.pdf. Retrieved 2011-07-24. 
  8. ^ Bruce 1923, p. 329.
  9. ^ "How Stuff Works — Animals — Lammergeier". howstuffworks.com. Discovery Communications, LLC. 2008-04-22. http://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/lammergeier-info.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-29. 
  10. ^ Linnaeus, Carolus (1758) (in Latin). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). p. 87. "V. albidus, dorso fusco, jugulo barbato, rostro incarnato, capite linea nigra cincto." 
  11. ^ Everett 2008, p. 215.
  12. ^ Marche 2008.
  13. ^ Pollard 1947.
References
Cited works

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bearded vulture — Bearded Beard ed, a. Having a beard. Bearded fellow. Shak. Bearded grain. Dryden. [1913 Webster] {Bearded vulture}, {Bearded eagle}. (Zo[ o]l.) See {Lammergeir}. {Bearded tortoise}. (Zo[ o]l.) See {Matamata}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bearded vulture — n. LAMMERGEIER …   English World dictionary

  • bearded vulture — Lammergeir Lam mer*geir (l[a^]m m[ e]r*g[imac]r), Lammergeier Lam mer*gei er, lammergeyer lam mer*gey er (l[a^]m m[ e]r*g[imac] [ e]r), n. [G. l[ a]mmergeier; lamm, pl. l[ a]mmer, lamb + geier vulture.] (Zo[ o]l.) A very large vulture ({Gypa[… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bearded vulture — avėdros statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Gypaetus angl. bearded vulture vok. Bartgeier, m rus. бородач, m; ягнятник, m pranc. gypaète barbu, m ryšiai: platesnis terminas – vanaginiai siauresnis terminas – avėdra …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

  • bearded vulture — avėdra statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Gypaetus barbatus angl. bearded vulture vok. Bartgeier, m rus. бородач, m; ягнятник, m pranc. gypaète barbu, m ryšiai: platesnis terminas – avėdros …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

  • bearded vulture — noun the largest Eurasian bird of prey; having black feathers hanging around the bill • Syn: ↑lammergeier, ↑lammergeyer, ↑Gypaetus barbatus • Hypernyms: ↑Old World vulture …   Useful english dictionary

  • bearded vulture — lammergeier. * * * …   Universalium

  • bearded vulture — noun The lammergeyer …   Wiktionary

  • bearded vulture — noun another term for lammergeier …   English new terms dictionary

  • bearded vulture — beard′ed vul′ture n. orn lammergeier …   From formal English to slang

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