Eurasian Black Vulture

Eurasian Black Vulture Bird’s Information & Facts

Length: 103 cm. The male and female Eurasian Black Vulture have like plumage.
Wingspan: 265 to 287 cm.
Weight: 7 to 14kg.
Voice: Hoarse croaking or wheezing sounds.
Size of Egg: 83.2—107.0 X 56.0—76.0 mm.

Eurasian Black Vulture Habitat

The Eurasian Black Vulture makes its home in the mountain areas of Spain, Sicily and southeastern Europe, though outside the breeding season it may also be seen in Germany, France, Denmark, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and other European countries. Visitors to these latter countries are usually young birds. In the eastern areas, this huge bird of prey may be found also in a lowland country. Conspicuous in flight are its long, broad wings with quills spread wide apart.

Bird’s Nesting

The large nest of branches, lined with pieces of animal skins and hair, is built in a tree in the middle of February. The branches used in its construction are broken from a tree by the vulture’s strong beak.

Eurasian Black Vulture Breeding

Both parents take turns incubating the single egg for 55 days. The nestling has a large head, can see as soon as it is born, but the legs are not yet fully developed, its toes being incapable of grasping. The contour feathers do not begin to grow in until the age of one month, and its plumage is not completed until a further month has passed.

Feed

Both parents feed the young Eurasian Black Vulture bird, providing half-digested food from their crops. The nestling remains in the nest for a long time, usually about three months, before it is capable of flight. The diet consists primarily of carrion, especially the carcasses of larger mammals, the vulture consuming flesh, skin and bone, regurgitating the undigested parts. Only rarely does it hunt live animals, primarily reptiles and amphibians, but if food is very scarce it may even attack a stray lamb.