EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Cinereous Vulture

Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus), Family Accipitridae
Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Explanation:  Up close and personal is this truly massive Old World vulture.  Males weigh in at up to 11.5 kg (25 lb), and females up to 14 kg (31 lb).  

  

The fluffy collar of feathers is called a ruff.  

This bird is an older juvenile, still showing a blackish face
and black bill and a pink cere, the portion of the bill closest
to the face.  Adults have a bare head and the cere turns pale blue,
somewhat shown here. 

The massive, strongly hooked bill is used
to tear up carrion.

     Cinereous vultures are rated as "near threatened."  

Their sparse population spread throughout central Asian steppe country is declining, although it may be stable in Europe and elsewhere as smaller populations.

Here in Mongolia, however, the species may be more stable ... where massive herds of domestic horses, goats, cattle, sheep, and yak dominate the grasslands, providing carrion food sources for this largest of Old World vultures.

Cinereous vultures have long wings
with seven prominent primary feathers
at the tips that each act like individual air foils
for additional lift.