Condor vs vulture9/21/2023 ![]() ![]() In general, poison is not used to intentionally kill vultures – these birds are normally secondary or tertiary victims of poison used against predators (foxes, wolves, feral dogs, etc.) regarded to be in conflict with human activities such as livestock husbandry and hunting. This is the reason for the species’ extinction in significant part of its original range, the cause of declines in more than half of its current range and one of the main constraints for its recovery. As for most, if not all, vulture species, poisoning is the most severe threat to the Cinereous Vulture.These facts must be kept in mind when identifying global threats to the species and when developing conservation actions. It is very important to highlight the main strongholds of the Cinereous Vulture population: Mongolia holds approximately 50% of the species’ global population, and Spain more than 20% (representing 90% of the European population).It is a central place forager around the breeding colonies (Carrete and Donázar 2005) being more common in areas with a higher prey abundance, especially extensive livestock, wild ungulates and lagomorphs (Costillo et al. It spends much time soaring overhead in search of food, over a variety of habitats including treeline, agricultural habitats with patches of forests, bare mountains, steppe and open grasslands. However, changes in the availability of prey over the last 30 years have led to a decrease in the number of rabbits in its diet and an increase in the consumption of domestic ungulates (Corbacho et al. It mainly feeds on the carcasses of rabbits, sheep and wild ungulates (Hiraldo 1976, Corbacho et al. Live prey is rarely taken (Batbayar et al. Its diet consists mainly of carrion from medium-sized or large mammal carcasses, although snakes and insects have also been recorded as food items. Like all the Old World vultures (except the Palm-nut Vulture Gypohierax angolensis (Carneiro 2017)), the Cinereous Vulture feeds mostly on carrion. Egypt: Goodman and Meininger 1989), with no reliable records in Sudan (Nikolaus 1987). It appears to be very rare and of irregular occurrence in Africa (e.g. The wintering range includes additional states to the south of the breeding range, in Saudi Arabia, Iran, northern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, DPR Korea and Republic of Korea. 2005), Mongolia and mainland China (Heredia 1996, Heredia et al. It breeds in Portugal (recent 9 recolonization), Spain (including the only island population in Mallorca), France (reintroduced population, now selfsustaining), Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Afghanistan, northern Pakistan (Khan, Parveen and Yasmeen in lit. Large distribution range across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Occurs at higher altitudes in Asia, where it also occupies scrub and arid and semi-arid alpine steppe and grasslands up to 4,500m (Thiollay 1994).Forested areas in hills and mountains are used in Spain at an altitude of 300-1,400m.1994, Clark 1999). As the juvenile Cinereous Vulture approaches maturity, the down on its head gets paler and its eyes change from dark brown to a reddish-brown (Clark 1999). ![]() They also lack the pale line on the underside of the wing, and have pinkish to pale grey skin on the head (Del Hoyo et al. Juvenile Cinereous Vultures are darker than adults and often look almost black. The legs and feet of this species are pale in colour (Clark 1999). It has a very powerful bill, which is mostly dark but has a lighter area at the base. 1994) giving the Cinereous Vulture its alternative name of ‘monk vulture’, as it is thought to resemble a monk’s hood. This ruff is paler in older individuals (Del Hoyo et al. 1994) and a brown ‘Elizabethan’ ruff of feathers around the hind neck (Clark 1999). The bare skin on the head and neck is blue-grey, and there is some darkly-coloured down on the head (Del Hoyo et al. In flight, the tips of the wings show seven deeply splayed ‘fingers’, and this species has a short, slightly wedge-shaped tail (Del Hoyo et al. It is a dark brown bird, has broad wings which have a serrated appearance to their trailing edges, owing to the pointed tips of the secondary feathers (Clark 1999). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 73–89 cm (29–35 in), the tail is 33–41 cm (13–16 in) and the tarsus is 12–14.6 cm (4.7–5.7 in) (Brown and Amadon 1986, Ferguson-Lee and Christie 2001). It is thus one of the world's heaviest flying birds. Males can weigh from 6.3 to 11.5 kg (14 to 25 lb), whereas females can weigh from 7.5 to 14 kg (17 to 31 lb). The Cinereous Vulture is believed to be the largest bird of prey in the world, together with the Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) males (Houston et al. ![]()
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