Animal
Bearded vulture
The bearded vulture is a big mountain bird. It has black whiskers under its beak. It eats bones!
The bearded vulture is a huge vulture of high mountains in Europe, Asia and Africa, with wings up to 2.8 meters wide and a tuft of black bristles under its beak like a beard. Unlike most vultures, it eats mainly bones. It drops big bones from high in the air onto rocks to break them. It is listed as Near Threatened.
Gypaetus barbatus is a large Old World vulture of remote, steep mountains, usually above 1,000 meters, from Europe and North Africa through the Middle East and Central Asia to the Himalayas and China, with populations in East and southern Africa. It is a bone specialist. BirdLife International assessed it as Near Threatened for the IUCN Red List (assessed 2021, published 2021) after a moderately rapid decline.
Photo: Wilfredor, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the bearded vulture
The bearded vulture is a very big bird.
Its wings are dark gray. Its head and chest are cream and orange. It has black whiskers under its beak.
The bearded vulture is enormous: 94 to 125 centimeters long, with wings that stretch 2.31 to 2.83 meters from tip to tip. It weighs 4.5 to 7.1 kilograms.
Adults have dark gray-black wings and back and a cream or orange-brown head, neck and belly. A thick black band runs across each eye, and long black bristles hang under the beak like a beard. Unlike most vultures, it has a fully feathered head, neck and legs. Young birds are dark gray-brown all over.
The Peregrine Fund gives a body length of 94 to 125 centimeters, a wingspan of 231 to 283 centimeters and a mass of 4,500 to 7,100 grams. The Animal Diversity Web account (2011) adds that the sexes look alike, females being slightly larger on average.
Adults are dark gray-black or gray-blue above, with a cream forehead and a pale yellowish head, a black band through each eye and long black bristles at the base of the bill that form the 'beard'. The neck and belly are often rusty orange: ADW attributes this to bathing in iron-rich water, with shades varying by how long each bird bathes. Unlike most vultures, the head, neck and legs are fully feathered. Juveniles are dark gray-brown. 'Lammergeier' means 'sheep vulture' in German, a name that, The Peregrine Fund notes, suggests the bird might prey on sheep.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.94 to 1.25 m
- Wingspan
- 2.31 to 2.83 m
- Weight
- 4.5 to 7.1 kg
- Lifespan in the wild
- up to 45 years
High, steep mountains
Bearded vultures live in high mountains.
They live in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Bearded vultures live in remote, steep mountains, usually more than 1,000 meters up and as high as 7,500 meters. They live in the Pyrenees and Alps of Europe, the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, the Caucasus, the mountains of Central Asia, the Himalayas and China, and in the highlands of Ethiopia, East Africa and southern Africa.
They stay in the same area all year, but they fly over huge distances, and young birds wander even farther than adults.
The IUCN assessment describes a wide but patchy range across the Palearctic, Afrotropical and Indomalayan regions, in remote, precipitous mountains usually above 1,000 meters (recorded down to 600 meters and up to 7,500 meters), especially where large predators such as wolves and golden eagles live alongside herds of mountain goats, ibex and sheep.
It is resident but has vast home ranges, and juveniles wander more widely than adults. In India it is locally common throughout the Himalayas; Nepal held about 500 birds in 2010; Ethiopia has a few hundred pairs; North Africa only about 8 to 14 breeding pairs (Morocco 6 to 10); and southern Africa about 100 breeding pairs (2012 estimate). The IUCN lists it as extinct in much of the Balkans and in Syria, and considers it extinct in Tunisia.
Continents
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Used to live here · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
- Brought back by people · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Used to live here · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Listed by IUCN as extinct in these countries of the Balkans and in Syria.
Places: Albania, Bosnia & Herz., Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia, Syria and N. Macedonia.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Remote, steep mountains, usually above 1,000 meters and up to 7,500 meters, from the Pyrenees and Atlas Mountains through the Caucasus and Central Asia to the Himalayas and China, and in the highlands of Ethiopia, East Africa and southern Africa. Very rare in some countries; Andorra has no separate shape on this map.
Places: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bhutan, China, Ethiopia, Eritrea, France and 25 more places.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in France, Spain, Austria, India, China, South Africa, Italy, Switzerland and 53 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Brought back by people · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Brought back to the Alps by captive breeding and release projects; more than 60 breeding pairs by 2020 (IUCN).
Places: Austria, Italy and Switzerland.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
A bird that eats bones
Bearded vultures eat bones.
They drop big bones on rocks to break them. Then they eat the pieces.
Most vultures eat meat, but bones make up most of the bearded vulture's food, as much as 85 percent. It gets nourishment from the soft marrow inside them.
It swallows smaller bones whole. Bigger bones it breaks with its beak or carries high into the air and drops from 50 to 80 meters onto hard rock, then eats the broken pieces. It treats tortoises the same way. It may fly up to 700 kilometers in a single day looking for food.
The IUCN text describes carrion as the principal food, with bones making up as much as 85 percent of the diet; the bird gains nutrition from the marrow. The rest is tortoises and occasionally live mammals and birds. Bones are swallowed whole, broken with the bill, hammered on the ground, or dropped from 50 to 80 meters onto hard rock; tortoises and hyraxes are treated the same way.
It forages over vast distances by soaring (up to 700 kilometers in a day has been recorded), generally avoids competing with other vultures at carcasses, waits to feed, and scavenges older carcasses when fresh meat is scarce. In Ethiopia it also scavenges at rubbish dumps, including in towns. ADW notes that, like other Old World vultures, it has a poorly developed sense of smell.
Did you know?
People helped bearded vultures come back to the Alps.
Thanks to release projects, more than 60 pairs nested in the Alps by 2020.
Alpine reintroductions produced 60+ breeding pairs by 2020.
Built for bones and mountains
Bearded vultures have very long wings.
They glide over the mountains for long distances.
The bearded vulture's huge wings let it soar over mountains for long distances, searching the slopes below.
Its feathered head is unusual for a vulture. Most vultures have bare heads, and scientists think the bearded vulture's feathers may be linked to its diet: it eats mostly bones rather than meat from inside carcasses. Its orange color comes from bathing in water rich in iron, so some birds are paler and some are a deeper orange.
Foraging is by soaring flight over vast distances (IUCN). The Peregrine Fund notes that, unlike most vultures, this species does not have a featherless head, and the Animal Diversity Web account (2011) suggests the fuller feathering of head, neck and legs is likely linked to its diet of bones rather than soft carrion.
The rusty-orange coloring of the neck and underparts is cosmetic: ADW attributes it to bathing in iron-rich water, with individuals that bathe longer looking more richly colored.
A nest on a cliff
Bearded vultures build big nests on cliffs or in caves.
They lay one to three eggs. The chick grows for months before it flies.
Bearded vultures build huge nests, about a meter across, on remote cliff ledges under an overhang or inside caves. The nests are made of branches and lined with soft things like skin and wool, and pairs use them again year after year.
The female lays 1 to 3 eggs, which hatch after 53 to 60 days. Usually only one chick survives. It stays in the nest a long time: most young first fly about four months after hatching, almost six months after the egg was laid.
Nests average about 1 meter across, are built of branches lined with animal remains such as skin and wool, plus dung and sometimes rubbish, and sit on remote overhung cliff ledges or in caves; they are reused over the years (IUCN). Breeding seasons differ by region: December to September in Europe and northern Africa, October to May in Ethiopia, May to January in southern Africa, year-round in much of eastern Africa, and December to June in India.
The Animal Diversity Web account (2011) gives 1 to 3 eggs, usually with only one surviving, and 53 to 60 days to hatching; egg-laying to fledging takes about 177 days, and most young leave about four months after hatching. Most pairs are monogamous, but trios of one female and two males are common in the Pyrenees, and wild breeders are on average 7.7 (females) to 8.9 (males) years old.
Quiet sky patrols
Bearded vultures are usually quiet.
Pairs fly and chase each other in the sky.
Bearded vultures are quiet birds most of the time. During courtship they may make loud chuckling sounds and a sharp 'koolik, koolik' call.
Pairs use flying displays and chases in the air to mark the edges of their territory and to attract or defend a mate. They do not like to push in among other vultures at a carcass; instead they wait patiently for their turn to feed.
The Animal Diversity Web account (2011) describes the species as rarely vocal, with loud chuckling during mating and a sharp, guttural 'koolik, koolik' and shrill twittering during courtship displays; aerial displays and chases mark territory boundaries and serve to defend or attract mates.
The IUCN text notes that it is generally unwilling to compete with other vultures at carcasses and waits patiently to feed, scavenging older carcasses if fresh meat is scarce. ADW gives a mean wild lifespan of 21.4 years and a captive record of over 45 years.
Did you know?
Bearded vultures eat bones!
Up to 85 percent of a bearded vulture's food is bone.
Bone makes up as much as 85 percent of the diet; marrow is the main nutrition.
Back in the Alps
Bearded vultures once disappeared from the Alps.
People brought them back. Now they nest there again.
The bearded vulture is listed as Near Threatened. It is very rare in some areas and declining in parts of the Himalayas and southern Africa.
But there is good news from Europe. The Alps had lost all their bearded vultures by the early 1900s. People raised young bearded vultures and released them there, and by 2020 there were more than 60 breeding pairs. In the Pyrenees, pairs grew from 39 in 1994 to about 100 in 2020. Poison, power lines, wind turbines and disturbance at nests are still dangers.
BirdLife International assessed Gypaetus barbatus as Near Threatened for the IUCN Red List (assessed 26 July 2021, published 2021), with a decreasing trend and an estimated 1,675 to 6,700 mature individuals. Declines are suspected to be rapid in parts of the Himalayas and India and in southern Africa, where the breeding range shrank by about 27 percent since the early 1980s; Upper Mustang, Nepal, saw 73 to 80 percent drops in sightings from 2002 to 2008.
Threats include non-target poisoning (including the livestock drug diclofenac), persecution, lead, collisions with power lines and wind turbines, disturbance and reduced food. Captive breeding and reintroduction in the Austrian, French, Italian and Swiss Alps produced 60+ breeding pairs by 2020; the Pyrenees grew from 39 pairs (1994) to about 100 (2020), with feeding stations, and Spain has further reintroduction projects (IUCN).
IUCN Red List
How is the bearded vulture doing in the wild?
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened (this animal)
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Near Threatened
Not at risk yet, but it could be soon.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3
Amazing facts
-
Bearded vultures eat bones!
Up to 85 percent of a bearded vulture's food is bone.
Bone makes up as much as 85 percent of the diet; marrow is the main nutrition.
-
They drop bones from high up to break them on rocks.
A bearded vulture drops big bones from 50 to 80 meters up onto rock to smash them.
Large bones are dropped from 50 to 80 meters onto hard rock.
-
Their orange color comes from taking baths.
The bearded vulture's orange feathers get their color from bathing, not from the bird itself.
Rufous coloring is attributed to bathing in iron-rich water (ADW).
-
People helped bearded vultures come back to the Alps.
Thanks to release projects, more than 60 pairs nested in the Alps by 2020.
Alpine reintroductions produced 60+ breeding pairs by 2020.
Words to know
- vulture
- a large bird that feeds mostly on dead animals
- marrow
- the soft, fatty material inside bones
- bristles
- short, stiff hairs or hair-like feathers
- reintroduce
- to bring an animal back to a place where it used to live
- Near Threatened
- close to being at risk of dying out
- carrion
- the body of an animal that has died
Discovery challenge
-
What does a bearded vulture mostly eat?
What makes up most of a bearded vulture's food?
Which food makes up the largest share of the bearded vulture's diet?
- Bones
- Fruit
- Fish
Show the answer
Bones
Bones!
Bones, up to 85 percent of its food.
Bones, as much as 85 percent; it lives largely on the marrow.
-
How does a bearded vulture break a big bone?
How does a bearded vulture break a bone that is too big to swallow?
What technique does Gypaetus barbatus use on large bones?
- Drops it onto rocks from high up
- Soaks it in a river
- Buries it in the snow
Show the answer
Drops it onto rocks from high up
It drops the bone onto rocks.
It carries it up and drops it from 50 to 80 meters onto hard rock.
Dropping from 50 to 80 meters onto rock; it also hammers bones or breaks them with the bill.
-
Where does the bearded vulture get its name?
Why is it called the bearded vulture?
What feature gives the bearded vulture its name?
- Black bristles under its beak
- A long white tail
- Fur on its feet
Show the answer
Black bristles under its beak
It has black whiskers under its beak, like a beard.
Long black bristles under its beak look like a beard.
Long, broad black bristles at the base of the bill.
-
Where do bearded vultures live?
What kind of place do bearded vultures live in?
Which habitat does Gypaetus barbatus occupy?
- High, steep mountains
- Coral reefs
- Flat rainforest lowlands
Show the answer
High, steep mountains
In high mountains.
Remote, steep mountains, usually above 1,000 meters.
Remote, precipitous mountains, usually above 1,000 meters, up to 7,500 meters.
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Spain
Spain covers most of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Its middle is a high, flat plateau, the Pyrenees mountains stand between it and France, and almost 50 million people live there, with Madrid as the capital.
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Watch
Country
Nepal
Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia, between India and China. It climbs from flat, warm farmland in the south to the snowy Himalaya in the north, where Mount Everest stands, and about 29.6 million people lived there in 2025.
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Watch
Country
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is a country on the Horn of Africa with no coast. Much of it is high, rugged land cut by the Great Rift Valley, it is one of the world's oldest countries, and more than 110 million people live there.
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Watch
Country
Austria
Austria is a landlocked country in central Europe. The Alps cover much of it, the Danube River flows across the north, and about 9.2 million people live there. Its capital, Vienna, is famous for its music and palaces.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Matterhorn
The Matterhorn is a 4,478-meter mountain in the Alps, on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its rock was pushed up when Africa moved toward Europe, and glaciers later carved its steep sides into a pyramid shape. Climbers first reached its top on 14 July 1865.
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Watch
Country
Andorra
Andorra is a tiny country high in the Pyrenees mountains, between France and Spain. It is made of steep mountain valleys, its official language is Catalan, and about 89,750 people lived there in 2026.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Alps
The Alps are Europe's great mountain range, an arc about 1,200 kilometers long that runs from the Mediterranean coast near Nice, in France, to Vienna, in Austria. Their highest peak is Mont Blanc, which Britannica gives as 4,807 meters. The Alps rose when the plate carrying Africa pushed north into Europe, and Ice Age glaciers carved their sharp peaks and deep valleys.
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The golden eagle is one of the largest and fastest birds of prey in North America, and it lives across much of the Northern Hemisphere. It soars over mountains and open country on wings more than two meters wide and dives at tremendous speed to catch rabbits, hares and ground squirrels.
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The snow leopard lives high in the mountains of Central Asia, where it is freezing cold and the ground is steep and rocky. Thick fur, huge furry paws and a tail almost as long as its body help it survive. It is so hard to spot that people call it the ghost cat of the mountains.
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The gray wolf is the largest member of the dog family and the wild ancestor of pet dogs. Wolves live in family packs that hunt big animals like elk and moose together, and their howls can carry about 10 kilometers. After being wiped out in many places, wolves are coming back in parts of North America and Europe.
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Spain
Spain covers most of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Its middle is a high, flat plateau, the Pyrenees mountains stand between it and France, and almost 50 million people live there, with Madrid as the capital.
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Country
Nepal
Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia, between India and China. It climbs from flat, warm farmland in the south to the snowy Himalaya in the north, where Mount Everest stands, and about 29.6 million people lived there in 2025.
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Ethiopia
Ethiopia is a country on the Horn of Africa with no coast. Much of it is high, rugged land cut by the Great Rift Valley, it is one of the world's oldest countries, and more than 110 million people live there.
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Austria
Austria is a landlocked country in central Europe. The Alps cover much of it, the Danube River flows across the north, and about 9.2 million people live there. Its capital, Vienna, is famous for its music and palaces.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain how the bearded vulture gets food from bones.
- Describe how body features fit a bird's diet.
- Understand how reintroduction projects can bring a species back.
- Discuss why poisons and power lines harm large birds.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might eating bones mean a vulture does not need a bare head?
- Why could dropping a bone from high up break it better than pecking it?
- What do people need to do before releasing birds into a place where they died out?
Try at home or in class
- Measure 2.83 meters on the floor with a tape measure to see a bearded vulture's widest wingspan, then lie down next to it.
- Drop a hard-boiled egg in its shell onto a soft cushion and then onto a towel on a hard floor from the same low height, and compare which cracks: talk about why rock helps a vulture.
Key vocabulary: vulture, marrow, bristles, reintroduce, Near Threatened, carrion
Where these facts come from
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- Gypaetus barbatus (BirdLife International, assessed 26 July 2021, published 2021) , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Gypaetus barbatus: geographic range, population, habitat, threats and conservation text , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Gypaetus barbatus: IUCN Red List global assessment record (BirdLife International 2021), IUCN checklist on GBIF , GBIF
- Bearded Vulture , The Peregrine Fund
- Gypaetus barbatus (Tenenzapf, J. 2011) , Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
- File:Gypaetus barbatus in Alpenzoo Innsbruck.jpg (Alpenzoo Innsbruck, Austria, 5 February 2024, Wilfredo Rodríguez) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.