EURASIAN GRIFFON VULTURE

Order: Accipitriformes.
Family: Accipitridae.

95-110 cm.

230-265 cm.

It is not possible to confuse the Eurasian Griffon Vulture with any other Iberian species.

Both the male and female have very similar plumage, so it is not a character to take into account for sexing.

It is possible to recognize 5 different ages:

In such large birds, there are several individual factors (different metabolism, quality of food, amount, birth season, etc.) that make the molt not always follow the annual cycle and the general patterns described below:

Juvenile Specimen: They present the greater secondary covert with a sharp tip, without any wear. The body feathers, chest and belly, are narrow and pointed. The infra-coverts have light but dirty tones, between white-brownish. On the face, it can be seen that the beak is stained with dark dyes and the iris is dark brown, as is the gorget, which has elongated and pointed feathers. The flight feathers show uniform wear, and no molt boundaries can be seen between them.

2nd to 3rd year specimen: On the back of these individuals, we can see the mix of juvenile and molted feathers. From P1 to P3, some secondaries and R1 are surely new feathers. In the same way, some wing covert are observed to have changed. The new greater covert already appear with a rounded tip. The iris, gorget and infra-coverts color, will still be of the juvenile plumage.

3rd to 4th year specimen: The gorget color is still predominantly brown. At this age, a small white spot appears on the beak tip. Most of the wing covert feathers appear with the adult design. In the flight feathers, up to three generations of mixed feathers can be seen. The secondaries of the juvenile generation will be recognizable by their uniform brown lower parts and the great wear they present.

4th to 5th year specimen: These specimens are easily recognizable if they still retain one more outer primaries or some juvenile secondaries. In this case, such feathers will show very advanced wear. Almost all specimens at this age have already molted all the juvenile flight feathers, and generally present the most outer primaries very new and showing some immature bird characteristics such as iris color, beak color and gorget.

Adult specimen: These individuals generally present fairly lighter tones. All their wing coverts have a rounded tip. The greater covert have a clear edge. The beak blends between gray and white. On the other hand, from 5 years of age, the gorget is white. The iris is light brown. Old adult plumage secondaries are recognizable by their lower parts, in which a dark spot is visible at the tip.

It should be kept in mind that, at all ages, with the exception of juvenile specimens, molt boundaries are always observed, so it is important to determine whether the old brown feathers have a juvenile or adult design to correctly assign the age. The coloration of the beak, iris and gorget by themselves are not determinants to assign an age with accuracy due to the huge variability of these characters within the same species.

Eurasian Griffon Vulture undergo a partial post-nuptial molt, in which they annually change some of their body feathers (they usually retain mantle feathers) and some of the wing coverts. The flight feathers take several years to be fully renewed, usually changing three to five feathers per year. The molt period is very wide and can extend from January to November. On the other hand, the post-juvenile molt (as seen in the previous section) lasts three to four years. A large part of the body feathers, some inner primaries, some secondaries, and the central pair of rectrices are changed in the second year of life. The rest of the primaries are changed in the third year, although P8, P9, P10, and some central secondaries may be retained and changed in the fourth year. The molt period is less extensive, starting in April and ending in November.

Primaries: 10 per wing.
Secundaries: 26-27 per wing.
Rectrices: 14.