Eurasian Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)

Measurements: 0.95-1.10m long; wingspan 2.4-2.8m

The Griffon is perhaps everyone’s idea of what a vulture should look like, with its enormous size, long wings, huge bill, and ugly, snake-like neck. It is also Europe’s only truly gregarious vulture, the one that comes down in packs to dispose of the remains of large animals such as sheep, horses, cows and wild deer and goats. The long, unfeathered neck gives a clue to its feeding style; it reaches far into a carcass, gobbling down the soft tissues such as muscle and intestine, putting its head into places where feathers would quickly become matted with blood.

By Rob Zweers from Arnhem, Netherlands – Vale Gier (Gyps fulvus), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75168705

A Griffon Vulture’s day starts late; it is so large that there is no point in trying to get airborne before thermals or mountain winds start up in mid-morning, for flapping is not an energetically sensible option for a heavy, broad-winged bird. Once out it spends much of the day soaring, often very high (3300m has been recorded), keeping a keen eye out below for signs of recent death. It also watches its fellow colony members very carefully. Vulture hunting, in fact, is quite co-ordinated, with the birds spreading out over a wide area and each individual remaining within eye-contact of a colleague. When a carcass is seen the message is soon passed down the line, so to speak, and the birds can congregate to feed.

By Mike Prince from Bangalore, India – Eurasian Griffon, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112384619

Griffons retain their sociability when breeding, forming into colonies that usually contain fewer than 20 pairs. Cliffs are usually used as a site, with each pair making rather an insubstantial cup-shaped twig nest in a natural hollow, or at least on a ledge with something of an overhang. The female lays just one egg, and when the chick hatches it is fed on semi-digested carrion.

From ‘Birds: A Complete Guide to All British and European Species’, by Dominic Couzens. Published by Collins and reproduced with permission.