One of the most formidable spectacles that can be seen when we go out to the countryside in Spain is, without a doubt, the luck of seeing a group of vultures flying up close. These birds can have a wingspan – the distance between the two tips of a bird’s wings when fully extended – of more than two meters, and they take advantage of thermal currents to glide.
The griffon vulture
The best known is the griffon vulture ( Gyps fulvus ), one of the longest-lived birds in Europe and very well adapted for the consumption of large carrion. In Spain we can observe this species in practically all regions, although the bulk would be in the two Castiles, Andalusia, Navarra and Extremadura.
Its scavenging activity has always been closely linked to man, carrying out important sanitary work by consuming the corpses of cattle. However, changes in the management of carrion and especially the proliferation of the use of poisons such as dichlorofenac represent a serious threat to this emblematic species.
The black vulture
The other more or less common vulture in the Iberian Peninsula is the black vulture ( Aegypius monachus ), larger than the griffon (it can reach almost three meters in wingspan) and that does not nest in rocky cliffs but prefers forests. This species was on the brink of extinction and currently its main threats are practically the same as those suffered by the black vulture.
Egyptian vulture
The Egyptian vulture ( Neophron percnopteruses ) is a lighter vulture and somewhat smaller than the griffon that is not strictly a scavenger, as it can also feed on small live animals. It is a particularly sensitive bird to the use of illegal poisons.
The bearded vulture
The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus ) is a bird adapted to living in the mountains and that owes its name to its feeding behavior, since it drops the bones of the carrion from a great height in order to take full advantage of them, tendons included. In Spain, various initiatives and plans have been launched for the protection and recovery of this emblematic species.
Other vultures
We are now going to talk about other species of vulture whose presence in Spain is practically anecdotal. In the first place, the spotted vulture or Ruppell’s vulture ( Gyps rueppellii ), which does not nest or reside in our country but which can be observed, on occasions, accompanying the vultures in their migratory movements from Africa. For this reason, the area of the Strait of Gibraltar, one of the most important migratory passages in Europe, is one of the areas where it is most likely to be observed. Something similar happens to the African vulture ( Gyps africanus ), whose presence in this same area is increasingly frequent.
Due to climate change, many species of birds and butterflies are changing their migratory and distribution patterns, so experts predict that, in the coming years, it will continue to be increasingly common to observe species typical of the African continent in southern Europe.
Lastly, we mention the long- eared vulture ( Torgos tracheliotus ), an animal that lives in much of sub-Saharan Africa and in the immediate areas of Asia. It is not a bird that moves too much, but even so in Europe there are two appointments, one of them, of two specimens together sighted in the Pyrenees in 1940.
Since 2009, the first Saturday in September is International Vulture Day. The objective is to make the world aware of the ecological importance of these spectacular birds and to draw attention to the serious threats they suffer today, especially the proliferation of illegal poisons.
