CreatureData

Bearded vulture

Gypaetus barbatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

NTNear Threatenedbirds of prey

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 4.91 kg to 6.21 kg and live up to 40 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.

Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)
Photo: Francesco Veronesi from Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the bearded vulture

Weight
4.91 kg – 6.21 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
2.62 msrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
40 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Scavengersrc for Diet
Main food
bone marrowsrc for Main food
Habitat
rockysrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
55.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
1 – 1.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
6.97 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the bearded vulture?

BEARDED VULTURE · WINGSPAN 2.62 MADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 2.62 m, the recorded maximum wingspan of the bearded vulture is about 1.5 times the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the bearded vulture

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)
Francesco Veronesi from Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the bearded vulture live?

Not recorded

What is the bearded vulture?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey in the monotypic genus Gypaetus. The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists of 70–90% bone.

Traditionally considered an Old World vulture, it actually forms a separate minor lineage of Accipitridae together with the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), its closest living relative. It is not much more closely related to the Old World vultures proper than to, for example, hawks, and differs from the former by its feathered neck. Although dissimilar, the Egyptian and bearded vulture each have a lozenge-shaped tail—unusual among birds of prey. It is vernacularly known as Homa, a bird in Iranian mythology.

The bearded vulture population is thought to be in decline; in 2004, it was classified on the IUCN Red List as least concern but has been listed as near threatened since 2014. It lives and breeds on crags in high mountains in Iran, southern Europe, East Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Tibet, and the Caucasus. Females lay one or two eggs in mid-winter that hatch at the beginning of spring.

From the Wikipedia article “Bearded vulture” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bearded_vulture&oldid=1381015169), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the bearded vulture endangered?

The bearded vulture is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.

How is the bearded vulture classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusGypaetus
  7. SpeciesGypaetus barbatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Gupista barbata, Gypaetos alpinus, Phene ossifraga, Vultur barbatus, Vulture barbatus

Other names and names in other languages (86)
  • LammergeierEnglish
  • LammergeyerEnglish
  • LammergeyerEnglish
  • OssifrageEnglish
  • LammergeierAfrikaans
  • BaardaasvoëlAfrikaans
  • Baardaasvoël (Lammergeier)Afrikaans
  • سَتَلArabic
  • النسر الملتحيArabic
  • كاسر العظامArabic
  • نسر ملتحيArabic
  • نسر أبو ذقنArabic
  • نسر كاسر العظامArabic
  • TrencauesosAragonese
  • frangüesuAsturian
  • farangüesuAsturian
  • franwessuAsturian
  • ToğlugötürənAzerbaijani
  • БарадачBelarusian
  • Брадат лешоядBulgarian
  • GupererBreton
  • trencalòsCatalan
  • orlosup bradatýCzech
  • fwltur barfogWelsh
  • LammegribDanish
  • BartadlerGerman
  • BartgeierGerman
  • GoldgeierGerman
  • LämmergeierGerman
  • ΓυπαετόςGreek
  • ŜafgrifoEsperanto
  • barba vulturoEsperanto
  • QuebrantahuesosSpanish
  • habekotkasEstonian
  • هماPersian
  • هما (پرنده)Persian
  • partakorppikotkaFinnish
  • Gypaète barbuFrench
  • Phène des AlpesFrench
  • Iolair GhreugachScottish Gaelic
  • QuebraososGalician
  • Bultoor faasaagaghManx
  • פרסHebrew
  • פֶּרֶסHebrew
  • kostoberinaCroatian
  • saskeselyűHungarian
  • Szakállas saskeselyűHungarian
  • ԳառնանգղArmenian
  • GipaetoIdo
  • LambagammurIcelandic
  • GipetoItalian
  • ヒゲワシJapanese
  • ბატკანძერიGeorgian
  • СақалтайKazakh
  • 수염수리Korean
  • 수염독수리Korean
  • BaartgeierLuxembourgish
  • avėdraLithuanian
  • bārdainais grifsLatvian
  • брадест мршојадецMacedonian
  • ёлMongolian
  • LammergierDutch
  • BaardgierDutch
  • lammegribbNorwegian
  • orłosępPolish
  • Orłosęp brodatyPolish
  • brita-ossosPortuguese
  • Abutre barbudoPortuguese
  • quebra-ossosPortuguese
  • Quebranta-ossosPortuguese
  • ZăganRomanian
  • БородачRussian
  • SávzaráhtogoaskinNorthern Sami
  • bradáň žltohlavýSlovak
  • brkati serSlovenian
  • BradanSerbian
  • Жутоглави брадашSerbian
  • lammgamSwedish
  • எலும்புண்ணிக் கழுகுTamil
  • Kara kuşTurkish
  • Sakallı AkbabaTurkish
  • ягнятникUkrainian
  • באָרד־גײערYiddish
  • 胡兀鷲Chinese
  • 胡兀鹫Chinese
  • 鬍兀鷲Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the bearded vulture

Other species in the same genus Gypaetus.

CompareBearded vulture vs Gypaetus grandis

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the bearded vulture?

An adult bearded vulture weighs 4.91 kg – 6.21 kg and has a wingspan of 2.62 m, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the bearded vulture endangered?

The bearded vulture is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.

What does the bearded vulture eat?

Its recorded main food is bone marrow.

How long does the bearded vulture live?

The bearded vulture has a recorded lifespan of 40 years.

What kind of animal is the bearded vulture?

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bearded-vulture

MLA

“Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bearded-vulture.

BibTeX
@misc{bearded_vulture_2026,
  title = {Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bearded-vulture},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}