Notes

Legends, folklore and doubtful stuff

Aristotle in his The History of Animals written 350 B.C.E (translated by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson):
“The so-called phene, or lammergeier, is fond of its young, provides its food with ease, fetches food to its nest, and is of a kindly disposition. It rears its own young and those of the eagle as well; for when the eagle ejects its young from the nest, this bird catches them up as they fall and feeds them.”

Aeschylos’ death by dropped tortoise:The main source of the story of Aeschylos as far as I can tell comes from Pliny's accounts of various birds in the Tenth Book of his Natural History. Consider that just before giving the account of the eagles, Pliny talks quite matter-of-factly about the Phoenix of Arabia! As far as I can tell, Pliny doesn't very accurately identify the species of eagle that dropped the tortoise. He gives names such as 'Perenos', 'Morphnos', 'Plancus' and 'Anataria', and describes such things as: loving to live about seas and meres; killing of ducks; having teeth; being mute and tongueless; being longtailed and black; being subtle and 'witty'. These certainly don't all apply to the Lammergeier! I don't think Pliny even had the concept of 'species' as we understand it today.

As for Aeschylos death, it is reported that he had received warnings from 'wizards' that he would die on a certain day by something falling on his head. So as a precaution on that day he went upon an open plain, far from any buildings or trees or anything else from which anything could have dropped on him, trusting in the clearness of the open sky for his security. And that's where the eagle, or lammergeier, spotted his bald head and mistook it for a rock, upon which it dropped the tortoise, thus killing him.

This story is said, according to internet sources, to have led one man to insure his life against falling tortoises.

Names

The name comes from the German which is 'Lämmergeier'. It is pronounced 'Lemmerguyer'. The bird is actually called 'Bartgeier' in German today because 'Lämmergeier' is inaccurate. 'Lämmergeier' means 'Lamb-vulture' and implies that this species catches lambs while actually it is mostly carrion-eating.

In Afrikaans this species has several names. First of all it is called 'Lammergeier', also spelled 'Lammergeyer' or 'Lammergier'. 'Lammergeier' comes directly from German, while 'Lammergier' is its Dutch version. The word 'gier' is a very old-fashioned word in Afrikaans at the moment, meaning 'vulture' but sometimes also 'eagle'. Another name used for the bird is 'Lammervanger' which means 'Lamb-catcher'.

All of the names that suggest that this species catches lambs are out of vogue these days. The accepted current Afrikaans name for this species is 'Baardaasvoël' meaning 'Bearded Vulture' the same as the German 'Bartgeier'.

The current accepted English name for this species in South Africa is 'Bearded Vulture'. However the name 'Lammergeier', also spelled 'Lammergeyer', is also still used.

The scientific name of the species is 'Gypaetus barbatus'. This comes from the words 'gyps' or 'gups' - Greek for 'vulture' - 'aetos' - Greek for 'eagle' - and 'barbatus' - Latin for 'bearded'. The name therefore means 'bearded vulture-eagle'.

Another name - Ossifrage (ossifragus bone-breaking, Latin oss - bone, frangere to break). Though there's a suggestion Pliny used that name for what was really an Osprey. But Osprey's don't crush bones.

The 1978 edition of the Hamlyn Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe refers to the bird as a Lammergeier, but in the C21st conservationist spin doctors discourage the use of a name that suggests livestock predation.

Common name in Spanish is Quebrantahuesos (bone-breaker).

Description

The Lammergeier is a huge bird of prey, reaching a length from beak to tail of 110 cm (about 43") with a wingspan of 263-282 cm (8'4"-9'3"). It has long, pointed wings and a relatively long, wedge-shaped, sometimes described as diamond shaped, tail. In the adult bird the wings and tail are slaty-black above as well as below, and the body varies from yellowish to rusty-red. This colouration actually comes not from the feathers themselves, which are white, but is a kind of cosmetic 'stain' acquired from reddish rock or soil! It is apparently not quite exactly known how the feathers 'pick up' and retain this colouring, and exactly where or how, but it is probably from reddish iron-oxides (rust, actually) either in the caves where they roost and sleep, or from soil in which they dust-bathe, or from dissolved oxides in pools in which they drink and bathe.

The exact tint of the body-feathers of the Lammergeier therefore varies dependent on local soils, rocks and the behaviour of the individual bird. However, most of the time the feathers of the head remains white. This forms a contrast with the black "bandit's mask" of short, stiff feathers surrounding the eye. These black feathers also extend over the base of the bill and down to the chin where they are lengthened into a forwards-pointing tuft or 'beard'. This unique structure indeed gives the Lammergeier its alternative name of Bearded Vulture. The function of this beard is not known. It might have a tactile function, like the whiskers of mammals, and might be involved when it feeds on marrow-bones.

The Lammergeier's eye is a pale yellow, surrounded by a red sclerotic ring, standing out prominently from its black 'bandit-mask'. The ring 'blushes' to a deeper red when the bird gets excited.

The Lammergeier has long, dense, shaggy feathers covering its body to protect it from the cold. On the back of its head and neck the fathers are loose, long and lance-shaped, giving the appearance of a 'mane'. It also has long feathers on its legs, like baggy trousers, the feathering extending to within 2.5 cm (1") from its toes. Underneath the stiff, overlapping countour feathers of its body it has a dense, insulating layer of downy feathers. When it ruffles its feathers the rattle can be heard 30 m away!

The bill is horn-coloured, and the feet are slaty grey. [Plumage detail: the wing coverts and scapulars - shoulder coverts - have white shafts.]

The adult bird weighs from about 5.2 kg (12 lb.) up to 6.25 kg (14 lb.), with an average of about 5.75 kg (13 lb.). This puts it among the largest of the eagle and vulture species. It looks especially big and bulky as a result of its thick cover of feathers, like a human wrapped in furs.

The immature Lammergeier differs from the adult in being almost uniformly blackish or dark brown, with a black head and breast. It already sports the diagnostic black beard by the time that it can fly. Its body colour gradually lightens to the rufous-brown of the adult. Full adult plumage is only achieved after six to seven years!

Current knowledge suggests that there are two sub-species: Gypaetus barbatus barbatus, found in Eurasia and Northern Africa, and Gypaetus barbatus meridionalis, founfd in eastern and southern Africa. The main visible difference between the two that the latter is missing a tuft of black feathers by its ear.

The silhouette resembles that of a falcon in flight, but it has that distinctive wedge/diamond-shaped tail. Where other vultures soar and circle over plains looking for carrion, the lammergeyer is more likely to be found patrolling a cliff face. A very lucky watcher might see it rising high to drop a bone on to the rocks to smash it, then descending in a looping spiral to feed on the marrow or to pick up the bone to try again.

The lammergeier is generally silent, giving only a shrill whistle from the breeding ground.

Lammergeiers make very efficient use of air-currents around the mountains where they are mostly found. Other big birds of prey make use of thermal updrafts, especially on hot and sunny days, to help them soar high and far with minimal expenditure of energy. Lammergeiers use the updrafts from winds blowing up mountain slopes and can fly in cold weather or on overcast days(as they often do). They fly quite fast and are agile and graceful in flight, in many ways more resembling a huge kite than a vulture. It can glide at speeds in excess of 120 km/h (about 75 mph). It can also go into a very fast dive, similar to that of a falcon. A lammergeier has been observed dropping a bone from very high, and then diving down and catching it in its bill. That means it could actually exceed the rate of free-fall! A lammergeier has also been observed maneuvering very adroitly while chasing a White-necked Raven in a downward dive over about 250 m. (Note again the White-necked Raven! ... and my post about this species maybe being one of those that also eats bones and will try and snatch some from Lammergeiers.) Adaptations to its mode of flight include the huge wings ... it has one of the biggest wingspans of *any* bird of prey, bigger even than those of many vultures and eagles that are bigger and heavier in body ... and also the proportionately very large and long tail, wedge-shaped or diamond-shaped, which helps with maneuvring. Its wing beats are described as 'slow and buoyant' ... the large wings generate a lot of lift with every beat... and it flaps its wings very infrequently, only when it needs to gain height and there's not a handy updraft nearby.

(Now for the bone-dropping flight pattern thing!) When dropping bones, Lammergeiers will start by flying downwind, holding the bone in their feet, with the tip of the bone facing forwards, to minimise drag from air resistance. It takes sometimes takes an approach of as long as several kilometres to line itself up to its target. Just before releasing the bone it will dip rapidly to give it a bit of momentum to start with. The bone must be released in just the right place: in general, the Lammergeier will target a flat slab of rock, in general with an area of about four square meters, and the bone will be released at a height of about 30 to 40 m above it. This requires quite a good aim! It is similar to reaching a target 20 cm in width from a distance of about four metres, complicated by the factor that the bone is irregular in shape, and having to take the winds into consideration as well. Furthermore, after having dropped the bone the Lammergeier needs to get to it as rapidly as possible for there is a danger of it being snatched by White-necked Ravens (and like I said earlier, in Ethiopia, by Thick-billed Ravens). To do this, it will go into a dive, turn around into the wind, spread out its tail and flap its wings to brake it quickly. If the bone isn't broken it has to repeat the whole process!

Eagle or Vulture

The scientific name indicates some confusion as to whether this species is to be considered a vulture, or an eagle. This confusion continues to this day! As far as I can determine, it is not clear to which group the Lammergeier is most closely related. In its carrion-feeding habits it resembles a vulture, but in its courtship flight [find out what that is] and form it is much more like a very big eagle. The head is fully feathered, unlike the bare heads of other vultures, and also eagle-like in shape. It is also the only vulture to be feathered below the knee, something found in some species of eagles. My own opinion is that it is more closely related to some kind of eagle than to the other African vultures (except the Palm-nut Vulture which is actually closer to fish eagles). But if the Lammergeier is an eagle, to which group of eagles is it more closely related? For its size it has a very fast and graceful mode of flight, which to some people even suggest a relationship to kites!

Habitat, Distribution, and Status

Summary: The high mountain ranges of Europe, Asia, and Africa. From the Atlas and Pyrenees mountains of Morrocco, Spain and France in the West, across the Alps, and the Balkans to the Anatolian mountains of Turkey. From there east to the Caucasus and their Central Asian stronghold in the Hindu Kush, the Himalayas, Tien Shan and the Altai, and south through Egypt to the mountains of southern Yemen, the Ethiopian Highlands, and the ranges along the Rift Valley in Kenya and Tanzania with a further outpost in the Drakensbergs of South Africa.

Some research suggests there was initially a separation between two lineages, one in the Mediterranean region, and another over a broad region covering parts of Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia. This is attributed to a period or to periods of glaciation during which the birds were limited to distinct montane areas that escaped being totally covered by glaciers. After the retreat of the glaciers, the populations of lammergeiers expanded again, and birds from the eastern group (Africa/East Europe/Asia) came in contact again with the western group (Mediterranean region) in two places namely Central Europe and Northern Africa, which 'joined' together these separate lineages again. As a result there's no real genetic basis for distinguishing the two races 'barbatus' and 'meridionalis'! But there may be smaller, more recent differences hiding inside the two large 'mitochondrial lineages'.

Africa:

The Lammergeier needs fairly mountainous terrain. It breeds and roosts on cliff ledges or in caves, and uses rock outcrops to drop bones on. Also it usually inhabits fairly remote, sparsely populated regions. It seems to actually benefit from a small degree of human presence. It scavenges garbage dumps, or eats the remains of dead livestock. But if there are too many humans and too intensive stock farming, it frequently suffers from persecution: trapping, shooting, poisoning and so forth. Sometimes they are even shot for the pot! But under so-called 'primitive' pastoral conditions they largely manage to live in harmony with humans.

Lammergeiers use the mountains as a 'base' from which to fly out looking for food. They can therefore sometimes be seen more than a hundred kilometres away from their montane roosts.

The range of the Lammergeier has contracted both in South and East Africa. It used to be found in the mountains of the Southwestern Cape as close as about 100 km from Cape Town, and from there eastward towards the Drakensberg range, and from there northward. Today it is only 'based' in the tallest and most rugged parts of the central Drakensberg, mainly in Lesotho, but also into Kwazulu-Natal, the Free State, and the Eastern Cape. It has lost about 40% of its total range of distribution in South Africa.

In East Africa the Lammergeier is still found in the highland regions of Tanzania and Kenia, from about Mount Kilimanjaro northward. It is still relatively plentiful in the vast, rugged highlands of Ethiopia, but vulnerable to increasing human pressure. In Tanzania and Kenya it's estimated that there are only about 50 breeding pairs, whereas in Ethiopia there are about 4,000. It can be assumed that the Tanzanian and Kenyan populations do mix and interchange to some extent with those of Ethiopia, since they're fairly close to each other, so genetically they could be considered as a single population.

Now, regarding its status in South Africa. The South African population is very far removed (about 3 000 km/2 000 miles) from the next closest population, that around the area of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. These populations must have been isolated from each other for several thousand years. There are probably already genetic differences between them. If they remain isolated from each other for several thousand years more, the differences may accumulate to the point where the Southern African population might be considered a distinct race, subspecies, or even species. But only provided they survive for that long! Currently they are considered the same race (meridionalis) as those in northeastern Africa.

The South African population is currently estimated at about 200 breeding pairs. This is quite a small population which means that they must be considered vulnerable if not outright endangered. One potential problem facing them these days is that there's an extremely ambitious dam-building project afoot in the Lesotho Highlands. This means that more people are now coming to this previously-remote region, which may affect the lammergeiers (not to mention other rare species which until now found a refuge in the region) negatively.

Hmmm ... just a comment on the isolation of the two African populations. It is not *necessarily* so that the Eastern and Southern populations must have been isolated for a few thousand years ... there are 'stepping stones' between the high mountains of Tanzania and those of South Africa: the eastern arc mountains of Tanzania, the highlands of Malawi, those of Zimbabwe, and those of Northern and Eastern South Africa. Lammergeiers generally use mountains of over 1 800 m in height. There are many peaks over 1 800 in the ranges mentioned. Lammergeiers might periodically use these stepping stones to change their range, in response to population pressures, or changing climate, or whatever. I wonder if any research has been done about this? For instance, where did the species originate? Did it originate in Europe or Asia, and from there travelled to Africa via the various mountain chains in between? Or did it originate in Africa and from there travelled to Europe and Asia? And when did the various movements happen, and when did the two races start to diverge? These issues of animal migrations I find very interesting. I want to know how and when each population was 'founded', and from where.

Further info has come to light. The race 'meridionalis' actually occurs into Yemen as well! Since Yemen is actually mostly a continuation of the Ethiopian Highlands, on the other side of the Red Sea which is not particularly wide, this population could still be included in the East African one.

Recent estimates of the population in Europe and North Africa (Atlas mountains) suggest around 167 pairs, 148 of them breeding regularly. 93 of these were in the EU (circa 2000/2001). In the EU these breeding pairs are found in Andorra, Spain, France, Russia, Albania, Greece, Turkey and Morroco. The population is increasing in Spain, (they have a feeding programme), stable in France and Russia, falling in the others, rapidly in Morroco. There is a reintroduction programme in place in Andalucia and the Alps.

With 200 (in 2002) of the total EU and North African population, the Pyrenean and Pre-Pyrenean Spanish and French population may be the only one in this region that is feasible.

Within Eurasia the lammergeier has been exterminated from Germany by 1855, Switzerland 1884, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1893, Austria 1906, Italy 1913, Romania 1935, Czechoslovakia 1942, Yogoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro) 1956, Bulgaria 1966, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in 1990 (Tucker and Heath 1994).

There are populations in Asia Minor, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Iran, Hindu Kush, Tian Shan, Altai, Pamir Meseta, Karakorum, Kuen Lun and the Himalayas.

Numbers of breeding pairs quoted for the Caucusus are; Georgia, 22-25; Russian Federation, 55-60; Azerbaijan, 30; Armenia, 12-15.

Adaptations to habitat

Its dense feathers provide excellent insulation against the cold and the winds of its montane environment. As mentioned in the Description, the body contour feathers are long, stiff and fit together snugly and cover the soft, downy insulating feathers beneath, and keep the cold winds away from the body below. The face, head and neck are feathered, unlike other vultures, and this, too helps to conserve heat ... a naked head will too easily get cold. Underneath the belly the feathers are long and shaggy, with long feathers on the legs down to the feet, the 'baggy trousers'. When the bird flies, it tucks its feet into these shaggy feathers of its legs, belly and undertail, so they're kept warm. When it roosts in caves, it sleeps on its belly again with the feet tucked into the nice soft warm feathers.

Breeding, diet and habitat

Europe stuff:

Greek site;

inhabits areas of high altitude 1,500-4,000 m, in winter may come down to 500-800 m. Nests mid-December to end of January in small caves on rocky cliffs or in deep gorges with steep slopes. Two eggs, incubation 55-57 days. Only one young fledges. Fledges end of June to early July, sexually mature after six years. Territory 200-400 km2. Young birds disperse over large distances but usually return to breed in the area where they were born. Mature birds rarely leave their own territory. The Bearded vulture “is the only animal that feeds almost exclusively on bone (70-90%)”. In Crete, shepherds call it the "Bone-eater". Drop large bones from a height on to rocky slopes, sometimes repeatedly, to break them, immediately descends in a characteristic spiral way to eat the marrow. The smaller bones can be swallowed whole, as the bird’s gastric fluids can digest bone easily.

EEC Action Plan data:

Breeding; caves and cliffs in mountain ranges, 400-2000 metres. ‘Bulky’ nest of sticks, one or two eggs late December to early March. Both adults incubate. Incubation 54-58 days, hatching in Feb/March. Fledge after 112-119, ie June. Sibling rivalry means it’s rare for more than one chick to survive.The youngsters stay the adults start again in November. Sexual maturity at around 7+, years. Usually monogamous. Polyandrous trios, normally two males and one female, have been recorded. 14% of the breeding territories in the Pyrenees were occupied by trios in 1996. Trios have similar success in breeding terms. Their formation may be due to unequal sex ratios, scarcity of food, high breeding density, or genetic relatedness between males, but no one knows.

Feeding; 85% bones, particulrly large bones and flesh from carrion. Bones broken into bite-sized pieces by being dropped onto special rocks. Nestlings fed small animals and birds.

In the Pyrenees a sampling exercise gave 88% domestic ungulates (extremities of sheep and goat), Chamois Rupicapra rupicapra and Marmot Marmotta marmotta; 7% birds; and 0.7% reptiles. Recent study of a nestling in the Spanish Pyrenees gave 59% sheep or goat, 25% rabbit, 3% wild boar, 3% cow/horse, 1.6% dog and 1.6% fox.

In Corsica; 69% limbs of sheep, goat, and cattle, 16% pigs, (wild and domestic), 12% Mouflon, (12%); Breeding success ‘seems to depend on particular stock rearing activities as their main food source is transhumant caprines and free range cattle.’

The Alps; Chamois and sheep.

Habitat Requirements; Montane and sub-alpine vegetation, mostly above 1000 m, where both domestic and wild ungulates occur. Needs areas free of snow in winter and spring. Visits ‘muladares’ in the Pyrenees, (places near villages for leaving carcasses).

Movements; Mainly resident species with very extensive ranges, young may disperse widely.

Food: Bones again. Says it’s the only “osteophage” (bone-eater) bird on the planet. Needs 250 to 500 grams of bones per day.

Breeding; As before but says units of four have been observed. All incubate and feed the young. A breeding areas is 200 to 300 km², (surface measurement). and they stay linked to their breeding area for the whole year. Nests in caves, sometimes very steep ledges, covered cracks or cornices. Territories are defended, recorded distances between territories are from 3km to 28km.
Juvenile disperse virtually across the whole of the Pryenees.

Hábitat; Prefers mountain areas with both open spaces and areas with steep cliffs and crevasses. openings.

Vultures Homestead site:

Diet/Feeding: Being smaller than other vultures, they have evolved to take the leavings; the bones. Their tongues have grooves for removing marrow from the centre of bones and it is the only vulture that can carry food in its feet. It has a digestive system that can dissolve bones, can swallow bones up to 10cm diameter, begin digestion while some of it is still in its beak. An entire vertebra will be digested in a day or two. Small turtles and tortoises are acceptable variations on the menu.

Range/Habitat: Mainly steep and remote mountainour areas in Tibet and Ethiopia. Rare in southern Europe, Middle East, Africa.

Behavior:
Shy and solitary, avoiding developed areas. In the pastoral areas of India, they are more accepted and appreciated and may live at closer quarters with man there.

Breeding:Aereal acrobatic courtship dance; they shoot up into the air and dive sharply down, spiralling. Sometimes the female, will fly upside down, and grasping the right way up male’s talons. In this they resemble eagles, not vultures.

Nests are 5 to 8-foot wide, sticks lined with soft material, eg sheep wool ‘and the occasional rag’.

Food is regurgitated for young nestlings but they will be on undigested material before fledging.

A bird can make up to 30 drops trying to break a bone. The grooved tongue is much the same shape as a marrow scoop used to be. There are reports of the bird trying to force people and animals over cliffs! But no supporting data has been found for this.

Lammergeiers do not eat bones alone. They scavenge carcases along with other vultures, *but* they are usually last in line to get to the carcass. These vultures may either be larger and stronger than the Lammergeiers, or they may be present in greater numbers. Be that as it may, there are usually only bones left by the time the Lammergeier gets to eat. *But* if there are still bits of meat left, it will eat them.

It is able to swallow quite large pieces of bone, since it has a very wide gape - about 67 mm in width.

Aftet grass fires - which occur frequently in the Drakensberg mountains - they will go looking for the carcases of small (or large, if possible) victims of the fire. They will also scavenge scraps of food discarded around rural human settlements. They will even follow humans ploughing a field for the up-turned grubs!

As for active hunting ... Lammergeiers *have* been recorded as hunting and eating Rock Hyraxes, or Dassies. One bird has been seen grabbing a Dassie in its claws, lifting it up and dropping it from about a 100 m height. An average Dassie might weigh about 2.5 kg or 5-6 pounds. A Lammergeier has also been seen carrying a monitor lizard 45 cm (18 inches) long.

There has been at least one reliable sighting of a Lammergeier attempting to drive an Oribi (a small antelope) over a cliff. The attempt failed, but this shows that the stories of Lammergeiers driving animals over cliffs might be true.

BREEDING - SA based

Lammergeiers court one another by means of displays of flying prowess: dives, swoops, rolls and twists. They utter their high, thin whistling calls while doing this. Here is an interesting bit: many species of EAGLE have the habit of locking their claws together and cart-wheeling during mating displays. The book about South African raptors that I'm using as a source mentions that Lammergeiers sometimes present their claws to each other, but have not actually been seen cart-wheeling; however, a juvenile and adult have been seen doing it (it is described as 'probably aggression' but I'm not so sure). The presence of this kind of behaviour certainly suggests a strong genetic link to eagles. As far as I know, no species of 'real vulture' has anything resembling a 'cartwheeling' courtship display.

Has cartwheeling ever been observed in Lammergeiers in Europe or Asia?

A couple in Lesotho has been observed preening each other and mating repeatedly, over a period of about a month prior to the laying of eggs.

In Southern Africa, they typically nest in sheer sandstone cliffs about 120-180 m in height, overlooking river valleys. Why river valleys? Well probably because the river happened to carve those sheer cliffs! Sandstone formations are usually found just below the 'capping' layer of basalt in the High Drakensberg. The sandstone erodes faster than the basalt. Thus one frequently finds 'overhangs' and caves in the sandstone just below the basalt layer. Rivers are the main agents of erosion seeing as this is a high-rainfall area.

They seem to prefer cliffs at lower altitudes. The High Drakensberg rises to an altitude of over 3 000 m, from an undulating countryside at about 1 200 m, thus there are many different 'altitudes' at which cliffs 120-180 m in 'height' can be situated. At the greatest altitudes the weather is extreme - cold, windy and wet. Lammergeiers will rather nest at about 1800-2000 m. They will select a pothole cave beneath an overhang in the middle of a cliff face - so that the nest is almost inaccessible (very determined mountaineers can do it). The nest site is selected so as to be sheltered from wind and rain. Within the cave the pair build a huge nest ... a base of sticks, lined with a variety of insulating materials they pick up from the surroundings, like sheep's wool, rags, sacks, ropes, animal skins and furs, tufts of dry grass, or small bushes. Nests can frequently be two metres wide and 60 cm deep. A nest of 2 m in depth has been recorded.

Pairs may have more than one nest in the same general area. They will only use one at a time for breeding. They may use one nest for a few years, then move to another, and then maybe another, or move back to the first nest again. This may be due to a nest becoming unhygienic or infested by parasites.

It is not clear how big Lammergeier territories are, or need to be. In Ethiopia nests were found 3,5 km from each other, while in Lesotho nests were found within about 20 km from each other. What limits the size of territories: availability of food, or availability of suitable nesting sites?

Both members of the pair contribute to the nest-building. They start in late Summer or early Autumn. Nesting material is carried in the feet, though small bushes and tufts of grass are pulled out with the bill. Some nesting material may be collected from the 'alternative' nests. The eggs are laid in Winter - in South Africa, from May to August. The average clutch size is about one and a half ... two eggs being laid about as frequently as one. The eggs are oval, rough-surfaced, and white with a pale reddish wash and a few rusty speckles.

If two eggs are laid, they are laid a few days, up to a week, apart. The pair will start incubating the first egg as soon as it is laid; both sexes incubate. The male and female relieve each other, but apparently don't bring food to each other. While one bird sits, the other will fly around and scavenge for food, or go to drink and bathe. The incubating bird will sit for several hours at a stretch, only standing up for short periods to defecate or to tuck the eggs in beneath itself. Since this is in the Winter, outside temperatures can drop very low and the eggs need to be continually covered.

The pair will defend the eggs especially against White-necked Ravens (Thick-billed Ravens in Ethiopia) and also chase away eagles that approach too close. Humans, however, are apparently tolerated.

The incubation period seems to be in the order of about two months. If two chicks hatch, only one will survive. (This is why taking a second egg is a good strategy for captive breeding of this species ... it will not affect the numbers of wild chicks raised, but will add those raised in captivity.) It is not clear whether the first chick actually kills the second chick, as happens in many species of eagle, or whether the parents simply neglect the second chick, which inevitably lags behind the first in strength and development. It may even be that the parents themselves kill the second chick.

The chicks are downy and grey with darker heads. The parents brood, feed and shelter the nestling. At first the female broods, while the male brings it food, carried in the feet or bill. Sometimes the male will regurgitate food into the nest. The nestling is fed three to nine times per day. It is given pieces of meat or offal or pieces of bone, up to 20 cm long, to swallow whole. The parents start to leave the chick on its own at about its seventh to ninth week. By this time it is large enough to defend itself against ravens, but the parents will still fly around in the near vicinity so it is not totally left to itself. But the parents will gradually leave it for longer periods until at about thirteen weeks they only visit it to bring food. The chick starts to fly at about fifteen to sixteen weeks' age. It may stay in the same area for a while longer while its parents will still feed it. It's not entirely clear (well, from my books!) when it becomes completely independent, but probably it maneges to do this before the start of the next breeding season.

These birds appear to breed annually, so after raising the chick the parents will start preparing for the next one.

Behaviour patterns

"Catching a few rays": Although experiments in captivity have found that Lammergeiers do not lose any body heat during the cold night when they're sleeping. Therefore they do not need to spend any time re-warming themselves the next day before setting out to hunt. Lammergeiers are often observed sunbathing, especially early in the mornings! In the sunbathing posture they spread out their wings to the sun - either facing into the sun, or away from it so the sun warms their backs. The dark feathers on their wings of course absorb a lot of heat from the sun. In the early morning they often sit outside, before the sun has risen, facing east and already spreading out their wings as if they're waiting for and anticipating the sunrise. Also many of their nest-caves face to the East to catch the morning sun. So, Lammergeiers *do* warm themselves in the morning ... one might surmise, their feathery insulation is *very* effective, but still, they make use of whatever little bit of warmth they can catch from the sun as well.

In captivity, Lammergeiers show a trend of seeking dark and shelter: if a large box with a hole in it, sufficient to admit a Lammergeier, is placed in a cage, the Lammergeier will climb inside it; otherwise it will creep into the shadiest corner of its cage to roost there.

Fake tan? Although sightings of the birds bathing in ferruginous water, or red mud, are rare they have been made and captive birds are observed to very deliberately bathe in red mud when given it. They rub their underside in it then preen for up to an hour spreading the red tinting. Other birds of prey in the same habitat do not aquire a red tint on white feathers, showing that it is unlikely to be accidentally aquired. So why?

• Cosmetic, sexual attraction. They are disposed to 'like' the rufous colouring because it goes with their eyes (! Ie the red sclerotic ring). Subordinate males in trios are less coloured than dominant males, which are less coloured than females.
• Status signal. The intensity of the red colouring indicates a bird with knowledge of the local area (important for finding food), and of scarce and secret (birds tend to be secretive about bathing) resources. Status has an impact in aquiring a mate and in winning imtimidatory 'battles'.
• Deters parasites. But it's unclear which parasites would be deterred and why particularly by iron oxides as opposed to any old mud.
• It may protect the eggs from bacteria. The scavenging lifestyle is particularly exposed to virulent parasites, vultures accordingly have strong immune systems and lammergeiers, being last to the cadaverific feast, are even more particularly vulnerable.
• Iron Oxides may help mobilise vitamin A, which has various health benefits. Most birds do this using cartotenoids, these are missing from the lammer's diet. Applying it to plumage may allow it to be absorbed by the egg, or through the nestlings skin. Also, during frozen winter months the plumage deposits may act as a storage system. This idea is supported by eggs and chicks aquiring a reddish colour from the adults, and by captive birds rubbing eggs with their plumage after bathing in water which has had iron oxides added.

Use of Ossuaries (place or receptacle for bones of the dead)

Research in the Pyrenees in the nestling period indicated:

71% preparation of food for nestlings, 11% food storage, 18% preparation of own food (the lammegeiers that is, not the researchers].

On average a pair had two ossuaries, mean distance about 800m from nest.

Average time spent breaking bones was 5.3min with 4.5 drops.

Storage of food is unusual compared to other meat scavengers. (And shows a bit of intelligence!)

[Function and Temporal Variation in Use of Ossuaries by Bearded Vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) During the Nestling Period. Issn: 0004-8038 Journal: The Auk Volume: 118 Issue: 3 Pages: 785-789. Authors: Margalida, Antoni, Bertran, Joan]

Ossuries are used for long periods ... here are interesting questions: do these ossuaries form important features of the territories claimed by Lammergeiers? Is there any sharing? Are they 'inherited' by a pair's offspring? May some ossuaries have been in use by succeeding generations of Lammergeiers and how old might the 'oldest' active ossuary be??

Longevity:

Threats

The EEC Action Plan identifies the following threats:

• Poisoning - potentially critical; usually caused by poisoned bait to kill predators such as foxes in hunting areas and to kill rats. The Balkans extinction is attributed largely to bait put out for wolves and jackals. There is some risk from agricultural pesticides such as Carbofuran used as a seed dressing which was found to have killed rators in the Alps. To date (200X?) there is not evidence that pesticide levels are generally high enough to cause breeding failure but pollution levels are expected to rise as farming and industrial development in the Spanish and French Pyrenees continues to intensify. Lead poisoning (from lead shot) remains only a potential threat at present.
• Decline in extensive livestock farming – high; Much of the bird’s food comes from domesticly farmed animals. Wild ungulates are usually scarce. Changes in traditional farming practices can be a great problem. Availability of food is a major limiting factor for inexperienced young birds.
• Habitat loss and deterioation - high ; development in mountain areas is a major threat through loss of habitat to development, decline in availability of prey animals, and disturbance through increased accessibility.
• Overhead cables - high; in the Pryenees this was the second biggest cause of death among birds found dead in recent observations.
• Food shortage - locally high New rules in the EU prohibiting the disposal of animal carcasses in the open could remove an important source of food.
• Disturbance - potentially high Lammergeiers are very sensitive to disturbance during breeding times. The main causes are hunting parties and military training exercises but low flying aircraft, fires, mountain sports, and filming of the birds themselves also contribute. As tourist numbers rise they may also become a factor.
• Illegal shooting - medium; an important threat nevertheless, with 3 birds shot in the Alps after the reintroduction programme started there, and half [6 of 11] the birds found dead in Spain since around 1990 having been shot.
• Lack of awareness – low; lack of public awareness leads to both a lack of concern for the bird and a lack of compliance with conservation measures.

Conservation

At present there is much awareness in South Africa of the need to do something to safeguard this species. There are numerous efforts underway. There are initiatives to inform and educate farmers, for example, especially to dissuade them from using poisons. Farmers are urged to see vultures and eagles as friends rather than enemies. Authorities hand out pamphlets to this effect.

Another cause of death is collision with powerlines, and I believe they're doing something to work against that, also ... building insulator shields, and special roosting places and perches, though I'm not sure how much that helps ...

Another potentially very valuable conservation effort is the regular monitoring of the population. The population estimates given here, for instance, come from a Bird Atlas Project mounted in the nineteen eighties. A follow-up project is in the works. Extra surveys are done for this and other rare species from time to time, especially to find breeding sites and determine population density. This is potentially of great value, since regular surveys will tell us if there is, at any stage, a further reduction in their range and numbers. If they show an increase in range or numbers they tell us that our conservation efforts are working!

Also, these days, in theory at least, economical developments that are likely to impact negatively on rare species, must be preceded by environmental assessments. But if there is enough economical 'push' behind a particular project, ecological scruples can be overcome. But the laws are there, on paper at least.

A pro-active step being taken to help this as well as other carrion-feeding species is the provision of 'vulture-restaurants'. They regularly throw out bones and scraps of meat from domestic cattle in specific places for this and other vultures. Some of these places feature 'hides' from which bird-watchers can watch the vultures, which has the additional benefit of attracting tourists and gaining a bit of income that can, hopefully, help to fund further conservation measures. And the vultures do appear to benefit from these 'restaurants'.

Undertaking a set of specific measures - actions, targeting for the survival of the Bearded vulture in Crete and mainland Greece, such as:

• Encouragement of traditional pastoralism and promotion of sustainable grazing systems and land use.
• Provision of supplementary food for the Bearded vulture in suitably selected sites.
• Patrolling and warding of the most important sites for the species, e.g. breeding, roosting and foraging areas.
• Cooperation with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Associations and Local Authorities in areas where the project is implemented, for achieving better results on the species' conservation.
• Inform and educate local people through the production and distribution of information material (leaflets, video, slide series), the organisation of seminars and lectures, and the establishment of Information Centres in strategic places around Greece.
• Dissemination of the results.

1986-96 Reintroduction project in the Alps

68 captive bred birds were released in total. The first breeding success was in '97 and there are now around 200 birds and have been sighted in the Alpine areas across Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland. This is an initial success and a further reintroduction programme is planned for the Sierra de Cazorla in Spain. It will be another 10 to 20 years however before the long term success of the first programme can be assessed.

Many of the introduced birds were hand reared younger siblings from wild bird nests. They were taken as eggs, an act justified by the very low survival rates of the second nestling to hatch. They are taken back to the Alps for release three weeks before they would fledge, where they learn to fend for themselves. These hand reared birds retain the knowledge to drop bones to break them.

European Union Species Action (Plan Final draft, September 1999 Prepared by BirdLife International)
(here).

Aims to support existing populations in Europe and in the longer term, encourage recolonisation into its full former range. For implementation in: Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain. Information also compiled for Andorra, Morocco, Switzerland, Turkey and Morocco.

Gypaetus barbatus is an Endangered species in Europe since its population numbers fewer than 250 breeding pairs. It is listed on Annex I of the EU Wild Birds Directive and Appendix II of the Bern Convention and Bonn Convention and CITES.

This will be done by developing the Common Agriculture Policy to maintain traditional farming practices in mountain areas throughout the EU. Providing for traditional disposal of animal carcasses near villages in safety. Giving the bird full legal protection at international and national level. Encouraging constituent countries to keep necessary records of re protected species, to develop recovery plans and join relevant international treaties and conventions, requiring Environmental Impact Assessment for all activities likely to affect the lammergeyer or its habitat, include as many as possible of its territories within the European networks of protected areas, specific localised protection measures in traditional nesting areas. The latter includes specific conservation projects, supplementary feeding, guarding breeding sites, restoring wild ungulate populations, opposing damaging developments, and enforcing no shooting laws.

Lammergeier numbers will be carefully monitored, further research carried out and measures to increase public awareness taken.

Links

Images and Videos on Cool Spanish Site

EEC Action Plan

Refs used;
Aristotle