Griffon Vulture

Gyps fulvus

Soars in committees over Spanish gorges, riding thermals for hours without a wingbeat. Effortless courier.

Population: No single corroborated global total confirmed (BirdLife DataZone factsheet is JS-rendered and would not return populated table data through the reader-proxy despite repeated attempts on both the slug and numeric-ID URLs). Regionally, Spain alone holds >90% of Europe's population (~30,946 breeding pairs, 2018 count); overall European trend is increasing/rebounding per Cornell's Birds of the World.
Habitat: Rocky, mountainous terrain with cliffs, caves, and sheltered ledges for nesting/roosting; forages over open plains, grasslands, and savanna-like landscapes
Fun fact: Cornell's Birds of the World documents a wild griffon vulture living at least 37 years, and a captive individual is recorded at 41.4 years old — exceptional longevity even among long-lived Old World vultures.
Range: Resident and breeding across southern Europe (Iberian Peninsula, Alps, Balkans), North Africa (Atlas Mountains), and through the Middle East and Asia (Anatolia, Caucasus, Arabian Peninsula, Iranian plateau, Tian Shan, Altai Mountains) into parts of the Indian subcontinent
Diet: Obligate scavenger, feeding almost exclusively on carrion of large mammals (dead livestock and wild ungulates); occasionally takes weak or injured live animals when carrion is scarce
Size: 1.07 m
Wingspan: 2.55 m
Lifespan: 30 years

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