Alternative names: Black Vulture1; Eurasian Black Vulture; Monk Vulture
- Aegypius monachus
Identification
98–110 cm
Blackish-brown plumage
- Bald head
- Dark eye markings
- Blue-grey cere
- Brown bill
- Grey legs and feet (visible at distance if catching the sun)
- In flight shows big, square wings and wedge-shaped tail
Distribution
Eurasia. Rare and declining in the Western Palearctic, in the west now breeding only in central Spain and Mallorca and in the east in northern Greece, Turkey and Armenia, the Crimea and the Caucasus.
In 1996 began breeding in very small numbers in eastern Portugal after an absence of several decades and in the same year the first breeding in France for a century took place in the Massif Central as a result of a reintroduction programme. Occurs with some regularity in the Rhodope Mts of Bulgaria but breeding is rare. More numerous and widespread further east ranging from northern Iran east to northern and western China.
Photo by Steve G
Salto del Gitano (Gypys's leap), Monfrague National Park, Extremadura, Spain, May 2004
Most are resident as adults, but young birds disperse, often to areas outside breeding range. Guadalquivir marismas are a regular haunt of immatures in Spain, especially in winter and there are often small numbers present in south Portugal. Mallorcan birds are rarely seen outside breeding range in the mountains of the north. Very small numbers recorded annually crossing the Bosphorus, and recorded south to Sinai and Egypt.
In the past also recorded in many European countries north to the Netherlands, Denmark and Estonia but today most records from northern Europe are thought more likely to be escapes. One recorded in Wales in the winter of 1977-78 is not accepted as a wild bird. However, birds thought to be genuine vagrants recorded in Tunisia in March 1991 and southern France in April 1991. More recently a juvenile in the Netherlands in July-August 2000 is accepted as a wild bird.
Vagrants also recorded in Switzerland, Cyprus and the Straits of Messina, Sicily. In the east a rare visitor to Burma and northern Indochina and a vagrant to Hong Kong and Japan.
Taxonomy
- Not to be confused with Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus.
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Found in hilly and mountainous country, sometimes lowlands, in wooded or open areas.
Behaviour
Diet
Searches for carrion over open areas with domestic stock or wild ungulates.
Breeding
Nest is usually built in a tree, sometimes on a rock ledge. Searches for carrion over open areas with domestic stock or wild ungulates.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Cinereous Vulture. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Cinereous_Vulture
