Bearded Vulture: The Bone-Eating Raptor

The bearded vulture eats 70 to 90 percent bones.

Bearded vultures live and breed on high mountain crags worldwide.

This bird is a large raptor with wingspans up to 2.83 meters.

Bearded vultures have a long wedge-shaped tail longer than wings.

Adult birds have a black beard of bristly feathers below chin.

Rust-colored feathers come from dust bathing in iron-rich mud.

Juveniles take 5 to 7 years to reach maturity.

Bearded vultures swallow bones whole or drop them onto rocks.

Stomach acid is extremely strong, around pH 1, to digest bones.

Bone marrow gives more energy than muscle for the vultures.

Bearded vultures carry bones over 10 cm wide in flight.

Bearded vultures carry bones weighing nearly as much as themselves.

Bearded vultures sometimes hunt live prey like tortoises and mammals.

Parents feed chicks by carrying sheep limbs to the nest.

This bird’s shape resembles a giant falcon in graceful flight.