Griffon Vulture

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Griffon Vulture
Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)

Griffon Vulture ( Gyps fulvus )

Systematics
Order : Birds of prey (Accipitriformes)
Family : Hawk species (Accipitridae)
Subfamily : Old World Vulture (Aegypiinae)
Genre : Gyps
Type : Griffon Vulture
Scientific name
Gyps fulvus
( Hablitz , 1783)

The griffon vulture ( Gyps fulvus ) is a large representative of the Old World vulture (Aegypiinae); Due to its size and the clearly two-colored wings, it can hardly be confused in Europe. The strongly fragmented distribution area includes large parts of the southwestern Palearctic , to the north the area extends into southern Central Europe. At least in Europe, the animals feed almost exclusively on the carrion of larger farm animals. Griffon vultures breed in colonies in rocks. Adult birds are predominantly resident birds, juvenile and immature griffon vultures are part migrants and spend the summer mostly away from the breeding grounds in areas with a rich food supply. The species has been spending the summer in the Alps regularly for a long time and has been increasingly moving into northern Central Europe in recent years, probably due to a strong population increase in southwestern Europe.

description

The griffon vulture is one of the great Old World vultures. The body length of adult specimens is 93 to 110 cm, the wingspan 234 to 269 cm. The animals weigh 6.2 to 11.3 kg. The species shows no sex dimorphism in terms of color, size or weight. Three males shot in Italy and Salzburg weighed 6.2 to 8.5 kg, five females 6.5 to 8.3 kg, an average of 7.48 kg. Males from Europe had wing lengths of 68.4–73.5 cm, on average 70.87 cm, females from the same area 69.0 to 75.0 cm, on average 70.77 cm.

This vulture is clearly two-tone. The trunk, leg fletching and the small and medium-sized lower and upper wing coverts in adult birds are pale brown to light reddish brown with light beige dots, especially on the underside. In contrast to this, the swingarms and the control springs are almost monochrome black-gray. The large upper wing ceilings and the umbrella feathers are bordered black-brown and broadly light brown, the light brown borders form a clear light band on the upper wing. The head and neck are densely colored in white, often more cream-colored on the top of the head and the lower front neck. The loose, densely downy ruff is white. The strong beak is yellowish horn-colored to green-yellow and pale gray at the base. The wax skin and the featherless parts of the legs and toes are gray.

Griffon vultures in their youthful dress, the brown ruff and the gray beak are easily recognizable

In the youth dress the ruff consists of narrow, lanceolate, light brown feathers. The bright edge of the large upper wing-coverts is only indistinctly developed, so that the bright band on the upper wing is only very weak. The beak is dark horn-colored. Griffon vultures are colored when they are 6 to 7 years old.

In flight, the species can hardly be confused in Europe due to the clearly two-colored wings, the dark, short, rounded or slightly wedge-shaped tail and the little noticeable head with retracted neck. The birds appear very large even in flight, this size is emphasized by the occasional, very slow wing beats. When circling, the wings are held slightly upwards, similar to the golden eagle . The wings of the hand are fingered deep. The arm wings are often longer than the inner hand wings, so that the trailing edge of the wing is curved and not straight.

Vocalizations

In the colonies and on the carrion the species is very vocal. When arguing with conspecifics, the animals give rattling or hoarse chuckling calls like “tetetet” or “Gegegeg”, hissing or hissing. In the event of direct attacks, high-ranking birds call out harshly, geese-like “kak-kak”, lower-ranking birds respond with sobbing or chuckling noises. The call used by small young birds when begging is a chuckling beep, while larger nestlings call “gagaga” in a row.

The range of the griffon vulture

distribution

The strongly fragmented distribution area includes large parts of the southwestern Palearctic , to the north the area extends into southern Central Europe. The griffon vulture is found in Morocco and Algeria and in Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, Sardinia, in southern France and to the east in large parts of the Balkans. Parts of the Arabian Peninsula are also settled.

There are contradicting information in the literature about the distribution in Asia. According to Ferguson-Lees & Christie, the area extends over the Near and Middle East and then, excluding the Central Asian high mountains, to the northeast to the southeast of Kazakhstan and to the southeast via Iran and Afghanistan via Pakistan and northern India to the flatlands of Nepal , possibly even to Bhutan . The authors describe the occurrence in Assam as uncertain and probably only concerning guests roaming around . According to Glutz von Blotzheim and Bauer, the area of ​​the species extends in the northeast to the northwest of Mongolia and in the southeast only to the southwest of Pakistan and the north Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir .

habitat

Vertical or steep cliffs, gorges and similar usable rock formations are used for breeding and resting, often with overhangs. Foraging takes place over a wide range of predominantly open and dry landscapes, including steppes, semi-deserts, mountain slopes and high plateaus, but also agricultural areas on the plains. The species occurs at altitudes from 0 to 3000 m; Griffon vultures looking for food have also been observed up to an altitude of 3500 m.

Systematics

In addition to the nominate form, another subspecies is distinguished, Gyps fulvus fulvescens , which, according to Ferguson-Lees & Christie, occurs in East Pakistan, Northern India and Nepal and whose plumage is paler, but overall more reddish than that of the nominate form. According to a molecular genetic investigation, however, this subspecies is more closely related to the snow vulture than to the nominate form of the griffon vulture and should therefore be classified as belonging to this species. According to this study, the closest relative and therefore sister taxon of the griffon vulture is the sparrow egg, which is widespread in central Africa .

Foraging and Nutrition

Griffon vultures like many members of the genus Gyps look for food by circling over the open landscape. The animals leave the colony together in the morning and then move up to 60 km away from the colony. The vultures look for carrion directly on the ground, but also indirectly by observing ground-dwelling predators and, above all, by observing other carrion-eating birds in the air. In this way, more and more vultures gather on a carcass that has been discovered, each of which has observed the fall of their conspecifics.

The food consists exclusively of fresh or rotting carrion , the internal organs and the stomach contents as well as the muscle meat of medium-sized to large mammals are mainly eaten. At least in Europe, griffon vultures today almost exclusively use dead pets; from sheep and goats to cattle and horses. Smaller carcasses such as B. used by deer, dogs, rabbits, foxes and similar animals.

Griffon vultures have to give way to larger predators such as wolf and jackal as well as the black vulture on the carrion ; this species is dominant over all other scavengers. Within the vultures present at the carrion, a hierarchy soon develops. The highest-ranking animal then shows a threatening march, in which it runs in an upright position with a pronounced goose step towards the carcass, thus keeping all conspecifics at a distance for the time being. When the animal's body is still closed, it usually first tears the abdominal wall in order to reach the internal organs with the long neck. Often, however, natural body orifices are also enlarged for this purpose, especially the anal opening. If the highest-ranking animal eats with its head in the carcass, the lower-ranking animals also come to the carcass, which is then soon covered by a mass of eating vultures. The animals occasionally eat so much that they have to choke out parts of the food in order to be able to fly away.

From May 2013 in the French Pyrenees it is known that the body of a mountaineer who was killed in a 300 m fall was apparently eaten to the bone by griffon vultures within 2 hours. When a rescue helicopter arrived, the birds circling over the spot and their tracks in the snow were found all around. There was a similar case in the Pyrenees in 2012. A bird expert said griffon vultures would not attack injured persons.

Reproduction

Egg, Museum Wiesbaden collection

Griffon vultures are very gregarious and usually breed in colonies that can contain more than 100 breeding pairs. The pairs only defend the immediate nest area against conspecifics. The courtship consists of common circles and "tandem flights" in which one partner copies every flight movement of the other bird. Occasionally the male will take some nesting material in its beak and then follow the female in the air for a few minutes.

Griffon vulture in a colony in Parque Nacional de Monfragüe

The nests are built in rock walls on bands under overhangs or in niches and caves that are open to the front. They consist of sticks and twigs and are laid out with green twigs or grass. The start of laying falls quite uniformly in the entire distribution area between the end of December and the end of March. In the National Park Monfragüe in Spain has been observed that increasingly griffon vulture black vulture displace by occupying their nests.

The clutch consists of only one egg, which is usually pure white or rarely has small red-brown spots. Eggs from Spain measure 92.0 × 70.1 mm on average, eggs from the Balkans are approximately the same size. Both partners incubate, the incubation period lasts 47 to 57 days. The young are also alternately supplied with food by both partners, which is brought to the nest in the crop and strangled there. The young bird leaves the nest on average after around 135 days, in southern Europe around mid-July to mid-August. It will be looked after by the parent birds for a few more weeks and then migrate. The emigration is undirected.

Oversummer

Griffon vultures are increasingly over-summering in different parts of the Alps. At least since the cattle drive accident in 1878, 50–150 predominantly juvenile and immature griffon vultures have summered in the Austrian Alps, especially in the Hohe Tauern . There they feed on the carcasses of sheep that fall on the high alpine pastures there. Oversummer people are also regularly observed in the Julian Alps in Italy and Slovenia . According to the results of the marking of nestlings with wing marks, most of these alpine summerers come from colonies in Croatia . Young birds from there were observed in Austria and Italy as early as August of their year of birth.

Griffon vultures are also increasingly over-summering in the French Maritime Alps (especially in the Mercantour National Park ). They follow the summer cattle drive. The length of stay now covers the period from May to October. Reproduction was not detected here until 2017. When griffon vultures were counted in August, around 300 griffon vultures were recorded in the Alpine region.

Many immature birds from the new French colonies in the Massif Central and in the Alps also migrate past their birthplaces in summer, but more to the north and northeast. Your summer hikes apparently follow the mountain ranges and lead from the eastern Pyrenees into the southern Massif Central and then further into the Alps, into the Jura , then north into the Vosges and the Ardennes and beyond. An extreme example of such a north-east migration was shown by a bird that flew into the Massif Central in 1998. This bird was observed in the spring of 2000 in southern Finland, more than 2000 km northeast of its place of birth. He then stayed in Lithuania from the end of July to August 12 of that year and was detected again in the Massif Central in May 2003 after several years without observation.

These migrations make themselves felt in a strong increase in the observation of griffon vultures in Central Europe. For example, only 11 individuals were observed in the Netherlands from 1800 to 1997. The species has appeared there every year since 1997 and in the years 2000 and 2001, exceptionally high numbers with a total of 20 individuals were found there. In spring 2005 there was a spectacular flight into Switzerland for the first time with 122 animals and troop sizes of up to 40 individuals. In 2006 such an ingress also hit Germany for the first time, where a total of around 164 specimens were detected from the beginning of May, the largest group was observed in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with 57 animals. In 2006, at least 40 griffon vultures were observed in Switzerland. "In the meantime, groups of more than 50 individuals are no longer uncommon." There was another very strong arrival in 2007 with at least 67 individuals in Germany and 171 in Switzerland. There was controversial discussion about the causes of these large inflows; in addition to the strong population increase in south-western Europe, a possible cause was also seen in stricter regulations for the disposal of animal carcasses in Spain from 2006 onwards. However, the Swiss Avifaunistic Commission considered this unlikely and pointed out that the flights to Central Europe began long before 2006, have become stronger in recent years and are still essentially limited to the April to July period, while food declined year-round in Spain.

The origin of these birds flying into Central Europe could also be proven by color-marked animals. Between 1980 and 2002, 26 marked griffon vultures were observed in Switzerland, 20 in the Italian Alps, 7 in Belgium, 8 in the Netherlands and 4 in Germany, most of which came from France or Spain.

wintering

The migratory behavior is apparently complex and in many areas still unexplored. Adult griffon vultures are predominantly resident birds , while juvenile birds and immature birds are long-distance or short-distance migrants or line birds, apparently in proportions that vary greatly depending on the population . Several thousand mostly young and immature animals migrate via Gibraltar and the Bosporus to Africa in autumn , the winter area there extends south to Senegal , Mali and Niger and in the east to Sudan and Ethiopia . In the first few years, the birds predominantly spend the summer away from their place of birth, but during this time other colonies are often visited far away from their place of birth, where the birds often spend a few days. They usually only return to the colonies in the vicinity of their place of birth when they reach sexual maturity.

Adult griffon vulture in flight, the neck drawn in here

Between 1997 and 2000, between 1,600 and 4,600 young griffon vultures migrated via Gibraltar to Africa in autumn, from mid-October to mid-November. According to this, between 67 and 89% of Spanish young birds stayed in the country. The animals overwinter mainly in the south of Spain and stay there in the vicinity of attractive food sources.

The griffon vultures that summer in the Alps leave them in October. The young Croatian birds migrate across Croatia to the southeast and are observed in October and November mainly in Bulgaria and Greece, however, findings of one bird on October 14 of the year of birth in Israel and November of the year of birth in Chad show that at least some of the young Croatian Griffon Vulture migrates to Africa in autumn. Some of the young and immature griffon vultures have also been observed in winter in Greece, Bulgaria and Italy; where most of the birds spend the winter is not yet known. From May of the following year, many of these young birds return to Austria and Italy for oversummer. However, individual immature Croatian birds have also been observed as guests in colonies in the French Alps. These birds only return to their place of birth when they reach sexual maturity.

Griffon vulture soaring

Existence and endangerment

Griffon vulture in the Salzburg Zoo . These vultures spend the winter months on Untersberg , but are regularly fed in the zoo.

The European population was estimated at 23,800–24,100 breeding pairs around 2004, the majority of which live in Spain with around 22,500 pairs. There are more than 100 breeding pairs in European countries, otherwise only in France (about 640 breeding pairs), Portugal (415–422) and Greece (170–190). There are no reliable figures for the Asian population, the world population was roughly estimated by Birdlife International in 2008 at around 100,000 pairs.

The existence and distribution in Europe were much greater in historical times, the distribution area also extended much further north. For Baden-Württemberg there was evidence of a breeding occurrence in the Middle Ages or in the early modern period on the Swabian Alb , but the species was probably much more widespread in Germany at that time. At the beginning of the 20th century the species was still breeding in the Massif Central , Vojvodina , Moldova , western Ukraine and south-east Poland and was a widespread breeding bird in Romania and Bulgaria. Except in Bulgaria (29 pairs in 2002), the species had disappeared everywhere by the late 1960s. The main reason for the shrinking area in the north of the distribution area since the Middle Ages is not only improved pasture hygiene but also a deterioration in the climate. From the end of the 19th century, the decline in the population, at least in Southeastern Europe, was mainly due to the widespread use of poisonous bait to combat the wolf . To this day, poison baits represent the greatest threat to the rest of the population in southern and southeastern Europe. 80% of 51 griffon vultures found dead in Cyprus died from pesticide poisoning, 36 of them in 1996 alone. In the following year, the number of breeding pairs halved 16 to 8 and has remained practically unchanged since then.

The largest population in Europe was able to stay in Spain, in 1979 it amounted to around 3200 pairs. Through consistent protection of the breeding colonies and the fight against illegal persecution, the population has increased sharply since then; in 1999, as mentioned above, it was estimated at around 22,500 pairs. In France, a project was started in 1968 to reintroduce the griffon vulture to the south of the Massif Central. Reintroductions began there in 1980, and griffon vultures were also released in the French Alps from 1996. Between 1980 and 1986 a total of 61 mainly immature and adult birds were released into the wild in the Massif Central, and from 1993 to 2002 a further 148 there and in the French Alps. These programs were very successful. The first brood was found in the Massif Central as early as 1982, where the breeding population rose continuously to 110 breeding pairs in 2003. In the French Alps, after the first brood in 1998, the population increased to 36–38 pairs in 2003.

A new threat to the griffon vulture is the use of wind energy. For example, 732 griffon vultures were found killed in wind farms in northern Spain between 2000 and 2006, and a total of 1892 by September 2016.

Worldwide the IUCN regards the species as harmless today.

exploration

One institute that has specialized in the research of the griffon vulture was the “Eko-Centar Caput Insulae” in Beli (Croatia) on the island of Cres, led by Goran Sušić . Since then, Sušić has continued his work in the "Birds of Prey Conservation Center" near Senj , which is also dedicated to the conservation and research of these and related species.

archeology

One of the oldest musical instruments in the world, the bone flute from layer Vb of the " Hohle Fels " cave (Alb-Danube district), was made from the wing bone of a griffon vulture. The flute belongs to the Upper Paleolithic culture stage of the Aurignacien and is dated to approx. 35-40,000 years before today.

swell

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer, Einhard Bezzel, Günther Niethammer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Vol. 4 , pp. 240–241.
  2. ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer, Einhard Bezzel, Günther Niethammer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Vol. 4 , pp. 240–241 and 254.
  3. ↑ James Ferguson-Lees, David A. Christie: Raptors of the World , p. 431.
  4. ^ UN Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer, Einhard Bezzel, Günther Niethammer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Vol. 4 , p. 235.
  5. ↑ James Ferguson-Lees, David A. Christie: Raptors of the World , p. 435.
  6. ^ Jeff A. Johnson, Heather RL Lerner, Pamela C. Rasmussen and David P. Mindell: Systematics within Gyps vultures. A clade at risk . In: BMC Evolutionary Biology , Vol. 6 (2006), p. 65, ISSN  1471-2148 , doi : 10.1186 / 1471-2148-6-65 online as pdf
  7. ↑ France: Vultures eat fallen mountaineer sueddeutsche.de, May 3, 2012, accessed May 9, 2019.
  8. ↑ Thomas Urban , Geier gegen Geier , in: Süddeutsche Zeitung , December 12, 2018, p. 16.
  9. ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer, Einhard Bezzel, Günther Niethammer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Vol. 4 :, p. 251.
  10. ^ Cattle drive accident of 1878 , Felber Tauern
  11. ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer, Einhard Bezzel, Günther Niethammer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Vol. 4: Falconiformes , pp. 246–247.
  12. ^ Theodor Mebs and Daniel Schmidt: The birds of prey in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Biology, characteristics, stocks . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-440-09585-1 , pp. 174-175.
  13. ↑ Mercantour National Park: written information from July 31, 2017
  14. ↑ Rob G. Bijlsma, Fred Hustings and Kees Camphuysen: Common and scarce birds of the Netherlands = Avifauna van Nederland, Vol. 2: Algemene en sichse vogels van Nederland with vermeldung van alle soorten . GMB Uitgeverij, Haarlem 2001, ISBN 90-74345-21-2 , p. 142.
  15. ↑ a b c Thorsten Krüger and Jörg-Andreas Krüger: Ingression of griffon vultures Gyps fulvus in Germany 2006. Occurrence, possible causes and nature conservation consequences . In: Limicola. Zeitschrift für Feldornithologie , Vol. 21 (2007), pp. 185-217, ISSN  0932-9153 .
  16. ↑ Bram Piot, Laurent Vallotton and Georges Preiswerk: Rare bird species and unusual bird watching in Switzerland in 2005 . In: Der Ornithologische Beobachter , Vol. 103 (2003), Issue 4, pp. 229-256, ISSN  0030-5707 .
  17. ↑ Manuel Schweizer: Rare bird species and unusual bird watching in Switzerland in 2006 . In: Der Ornithologische Beobachter , Vol. 104 (2007), Issue 4, pp. 241-262, ISSN  0030-5707
  18. ↑ https://www.NZZ.ch/panorama/gaensegeier-erobern-die-schweiz-ld.1508454 accessed September 19, 2019
  19. ↑ Bram Piot, Laurent Vallotton and Manuel Schweizer: Rare bird species and unusual bird watching in Switzerland in 2007 . In: Der Ornithologische Beobachter , Vol. 105 (2006), Issue 4, pp. 305–328, ISSN  0030-5707 .
  20. ↑ Thorsten Krüger and Jörg-Andreas Krüger: Ingression of griffon vultures Gyps fulvus in Germany 2006. Occurrence, possible causes and nature conservation consequences . In: Limicola. Zeitschrift für Feldornithologie , Vol. 21 (2007), pp. 208 ff. ISSN  0932-9153 .
  21. ↑ Manuel Schweizer: Rare bird species and unusual bird watching in Switzerland in 2006 . In: Der Ornithologische Beobachter , Vol. 104 (2007), Issue 4, pp. 244–246, ISSN  0030-5707 .
  22. ↑ Manuel Terrasse, François Sarrazin, Jean-Pierre Choisy, Céline Clémente, Sylvain Henriquet, Philippe Lécuyer, Jean Louis Pinna and Christian Tessier: A success story. The reintroduction of Eurasian Griffon Gyps fulvus and Black Aegypius monachus Vultures to France . In: Robin Chancellor and Bernd-Ulrich Meyburg (eds.): Raptors worldwide , pp. 139–141.
  23. ↑ a b Alvaro Camiña-Cardenal: Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus monitoring in Spain. Current research and conservation projects . In: Robin Chancellor and Bernd-Ulrich Meyburg (eds.): Raptors worldwide , pp. 45–66.
  24. ↑ Goran Sušić: Regular long-distance migration of Eurasian Griffon Gyps fulvus . In: Robin Chancellor, Bernd-Ulrich Meyburg (eds.): Raptors at Risk , pp. 225-230.
  25. ^ Theodor Mebs and Daniel Schmidt: The birds of prey in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-440-09585-1 , p. 172.
  26. ↑ Griffon Vulture - BirdLife Species Factsheet (Eng.)
  27. ↑ Jochen Hölzinger (edit.): The birds of Baden-Württemberg, Vol. 1: Endangerment and protection, Part 2: Species protection program Baden-Württemberg, species aid programs. Ulmer, Karlsruhe 1987, ISBN 3-8001-3440-3 , pp. 858-860.
  28. ↑ Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim, Kurt M. Bauer, Einhard Bezzel, Günther Niethammer: Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas, Vol. 4 , pp. 242–243.
  29. ↑ Savvas Iezekiel, Dimitris E. Bakaloudis and Christos G. Vlachos: The Status of the Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus in Cyprus . In: Robin Chancellor and Bernd.-Ulrich Meyburg (Hrss.): Raptors worldwide , pp. 67-73.
  30. ↑ Michael Terrasse, Franç Sarrazin, Jean-Pierre Choisy, Céline Clémente, Sylvain Henriquet, Philippe Lécuyer, Jean Louis Pinna and Christian Tessier: A success story. The reintroduction of Eurasian Griffon Gyps fulvus and Black Aegypius monachus Vultures to France . In: Robin Chancellor and Bernd-Ulrich Meyburg (eds.): Raptors worldwide , pp. 127-145.
  31. ↑ epaw.org Vulture slain by a rotor blade
  32. ↑ Alvara Camiña-Cardenal: Las Energías Renovables y la Conservacíon de Aves Carroñeras. El Caso del Buitre Leonado (Gyps fulvus) en el Norte de la Península Ibérica . 2008 ( PDF )
  33. ↑ Effects of wind turbines on birds and bats. State Office for the Environment Brandenburg;
  34. ↑ Centar za zaštitu ptica grabljivica www.supovi.hr, accessed on July 3, 2018.
  35. ^ Nicholas J. Conard, Maria Malina, Susanne C. Münzel: New flutes document the earliest musical tradition in southwestern Germany . In: Nature . tape 460 , no. 7256 , August 2009, ISSN  1476-4687 , p. 737-740 , doi : 10.1038 / nature08169 ( nature.com [accessed May 11, 2020]).

Web links

Commons : Griffon Vulture ( Gyps fulvus )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Griffon Vulture  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on August 31, 2009 .