I saw my first Bearded vultures during a holiday in the Spanish Pyrenees, even before a became an active birder. Only recently I recognized the birds on (very bad) old holiday pictures. The argyle tail is unblushing.
In the Netherlands the Bearded vulture is an extremely rare drifter with a wingspan of up to 2,80 meter. It has a white chest which is commonly smeared with red clay. Bearded vultures feed themselves with a diet of 80% bones. With their large beaks they can swallow large bones but larger bones are crushed by dropping them from high in the air on the rocks.
All my pictures can be seen here
Genus: Gypaetus
Species: Gypaetus barbatus
Dutch name: Lammergier
Common name: Bearded vulture
Location: Pyrenees, Spain
Remarks: First time I saw Bearded vultures was during a holiday in the Spanish Pyrenees, even before I officially became a birder and acquired proper lenses. Only recently I was able to identify them as Bearded vultures by their long and argyle tails.
Nice to see them from above as they are usually very high up in the sky...
Genus: Gypaetus
Species: Gypaetus barbatus
Dutch name: Lammergier
Common name: Bearded vulture
Location: Pyrenees, Spain
Remarks: Never been closer yet...
Genus: Gypaetus
Species: Gypaetus barbatus
Dutch name: Lammergier
Common name: Bearded vulture
Location: Pyrenees, Spain
Remarks: High up in the sky but with an chacteristic tail
Field characteristics
In contrary to other vultures they do not have bold heads. This enormous bird is 95 to 125 cm tall and has a wingspan of 2.35 to 2.80 meter. It weights 5 to 7 kilogram.
An adult bird has a yellow-ish brown head and body. It wrubs its chin, chest and leg feather with clay so that they seem rusty. The story goes that the rustier the coloud, the fiercer the bird. Tail and wing feathers are grey. Young birds are completely dark and it takes 5 years to grow up to adults.
Bearded vultures are very silent birds that only make high whistkling sounds during the breeding season.
