Gyps fulvus

		Size: one metre from beak to tail, with a wingspan of 242 to 280 cm. Weight: 6 to 8 kg. Distinctive features: the griffon vulture is easily recognised by its slow soaring flight, its tail -which is proportionally shorter than the width of its wing- and especially its white collar (dark brown when young) around the base of its neck.

Reproduction: nests are hidden in rocky, bushy escarpments between 350 and 1,200 m high. A single egg is laid in late January. It is incubated for 52 days on average. The young vultures fly after 115 to 155 days, and desert the nest from which they hatched one to four months later. Food: the griffon vulture is the dustman of the mountains, clearing them of rotting sheep or cattle carcasses. To feed its young, an adult carries up to 2.5 kg of food in its crop. Once back at its eyrie, the food is regurgitated.

Habitat: rocky cliffs where it can construct its nest using twigs and grass. In the Pyrenees: griffon vultures live in colonies in the cliff faces of the Basque country and Aragon. There is a reserve for them in the Béarn. They almost became extinct. To bolster vulture populations, conservationists have set aside areas where they leave carcasses for them. The number of breeding couples has risen from 61 in 1976 to over 200 in 1989. In 1992, there were an estimated 270-285 couples.

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