Cinereous Vulture

The Cinereous Vulture is a massive bird of prey characterised by its dark brown to black plumage, which gives it a sombre, monk-like appearance. 

Unlike many other vultures, its head is covered in fine, dark feathers, and it has a distinctive hooked pale beak and bluish-grey skin around the eyes and neck.

Both sexes are similar in appearance, with females being larger and heavier. Juveniles are slightly darker than adults and may have a more reddish-brown tinge to their feathers. They gradually develop the adult colouration over several years.

A relatively silent bird that tends to vocalise with hisses and grunts when feeding.

Whilst often hunting in large areas with sparse vegetation the cinereous vulture also moves around forested areas of hills and mountains and frequently nests in trees high in the treeline of rugged wildernesses in Central Asia. Within Europe it mainly occupies Portugal, Spain, the Balearics and southern France from where it very rarely migrates. Travelling east it is also found in the Caucasus, the Middle East, Indian sub-continent, Siberia, Mongolia and north eastern China. Some juvenile birds will migrate to north east Africa to overwinter.

Like the griffon vulture the cinereous is also a master of the air using thermals in order to soar effortlessly around the skies seeking prey. Unlike the former it is however a fairly solitary bird and often feeds alone. Its outspread wings tend to be flat as opposed to ‘V’ shaped whilst soaring and the overall wing shape when viewed from below is broad and rectangular. It is one of the worlds heaviest birds capable of flight with the female able to reach thirty one pounds or fourteen kilograms in weight. Unsurprisingly it therefore requires a large wing area to enable flight and wing spans of over ten feet are not uncommon.

As with most vultures, the cinereous vulture is a scavenger, rarely taking live prey but concentrating on carrion including medium to large carcasses, although it will also take dead rabbits. Unlike other species of vulture, it often feeds alone.

During the breeding season large nests constructed from sticks and small branches are built in flat topped trees where one brood consisting of just one egg is laid between February to April, dependant upon geographical location. Again, dependent upon region, incubation averages fifty four to fifty six days with fledging taking place anytime between ninety five and one hundred and twenty days. It is not unusual for adult birds of breeding age to skip a season and not produce an egg.

Cinereous Vultures are often solitary but may gather in small groups at carcasses. They soar effortlessly on thermal currents, using their keen eyesight to locate food.

These birds are generally silent, communicating through body language and hissing when competing for food.

The lifespan of a cinereous vulture is up to twenty five years although in captivity a specimen has been recorded as achieving thirty nine years of age.

The Cinereous Vulture faces threats from habitat loss, poisoning, and collisions with power lines.

Conservation efforts focus on protecting nesting sites, establishing feeding stations, and educating communities about the importance of these scavengers in ecosystem health.

Although appearing mainly black, particularly from a distance, the cinereous vulture is predominantly brown in colour. The head appears bald although it may be covered in a black feathery down with a black mask around the eye. Otherwise the face is pale morphing into a black chin and throat. The neck ruff is pale brown with underlying white feathers. The bill is large and hooked with a greyish blue colour from the base to just past the nares (nostrils) where it changes to a dark grey black. The feet are pale, almost white in colour. Breast, belly, tail and underwing areas are all dark brown as is the back, upper tail and upperwing areas. The underwing coverts are a very dark brown and in flight the primary feathers are deeply fingered. Female adults are slightly larger and heavier than males whilst juveniles are blacker overall.