Griffon Vulture

The Griffon Vulture is a large, sociable scavenger found across mountainous and open country from southern Europe through the Middle East and Central Asia. Its warm sandy-brown body contrasts with notably darker, almost blackish, flight and tail feathers, creating a two-toned appearance in flight.

A ring of white downy feathers at the base of the long, mostly bare neck is a signature feature, often visible as a fluffy collar even from a distance.

Griffon Vultures often soar in large numbers together on mountain thermals, and shed feathers can sometimes be found near cliff roosts and nesting colonies.

Shape and Size

Wings are broad with well-fingered primaries; the tail is relatively short and wedge-shaped. Flight feathers are large, appropriate for extended soaring flight.

Color and Pattern

• Body and covert feathers: warm tawny to sandy brown
• Flight feathers: dark blackish-brown, contrasting notably with the paler body
• Tail feathers: dark blackish-brown
• Neck ruff feathers: white and downy, distinct in texture from the body's contour feathers
• Shafts: pale on body feathers, dark on flight feathers

Distinguishing from Similar Species

The warm tawny-brown body tone paired with dark flight feathers separates this species from the more uniformly dark Cinereous Vulture and from the paler, more finely patterned Ruppell's Vulture, whose body feathers show pale scaly edging rather than a plain tawny wash.

Adults show a tawny-brown body with dark flight and tail feathers and a white neck ruff; sexes look alike. Juveniles are darker and more streaked, with a browner, less contrasting pattern, and a less developed neck ruff that whitens with age.

Molt occurs gradually, with flight feathers replaced over an extended multi-year cycle typical of large vultures.

Found in mountainous and open terrain across southern Europe (notably Spain, the Balkans), North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Central and South Asia, favoring gorges and cliffs for nesting.

Most populations are resident or make only limited seasonal movements, though some individuals disperse more widely outside the breeding season.

A highly social scavenger, often gathering in large numbers at carcasses and roosting and nesting colonially on cliff ledges. Locates food partly by watching the behavior of other vultures and soars for long periods on thermals.

Nests on cliff ledges, sometimes in large colonies of dozens of pairs. Vocalizations include hisses and grunting calls, mainly around the nest or carcass.

A tawny-brown body feather with dark flight or tail feathers, or a white downy neck feather, found near cliffs or mountain gorges in its Old World range, points to this species.