Himalayan Vulture
| Himalyan Vulture | |
|---|---|
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Falconiformes (or Accipitriformes, q.v.) |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Gyps |
| Species: | G. himalayensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Gyps himalayensis Hume, 1869 |
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The Himalayan Vulture or Himalayan Griffon Vulture (Gyps himalayensis) is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae. Closely related to the European Griffon Vulture (G. fulvus) and once considered a subspecies of it, this species is found along the Himalayas and the adjoining Tibetan Plateau.
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[edit] Description
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This is a large vulture, the largest in the Himalayas. Adults have a ruff that is long and pale brown with white streaks. The ruff feathers are long and spiky, the head is covered in down and the legs are feathered. The upperside is unstreaked buff, has a pale blue facial skin (dark blue in Gyps fulvus), a yellowish bill and pinkish legs. Younger birds have a pale parts to the bill. In flight the long fingers are splayed and there is a pale patagial stripe on the underwing. The wing and tail feathers are dark and contrast with the pale coverts and body.[2][3] The feathers on the body have pale shaft streaks.[4][5] They are the heaviest Old World vultures and in the wild weigh about 9 kilograms although varying with food intake and condition.[6][7]
[edit] Behaviour and ecology
The Himalayan Vulture perches on crags, favourite sites showing white marks from regular defecation. They bask in the sun on rocks. They soar in thermals and are not capable of sustained flapping flight. Flocks may follow grazers up the mountains in their search for dead animals. They feed on old carcasses sometimes waiting a couple of days near a dead animal.[2][8] The breeding season begins in January. The nest is a platform of sticks placed on an inaccessible ledge on a cliff. Several pairs may nest on the same cliff face. A single white egg marked with red splotches is the usual clutch.[8] This vulture makes a rattling sound when descending on a carcass and can grunts or hisses at roosts or when feeding on carrion.[2]
They are susceptible to toxicity induced by diclofenac, a drug whose residues in domestic animal carcasses has possibly led to a decline in populations of other Gyps vultures across Asia.[9] The Himalayan Griffon Vulture populations have however not shown signs of decline[10] although reductions in nesting birds have been noted in some parts of its range in Nepal.[11]
The species is found only in the higher regions of the Himalayas, the Pamirs, Kazakhstan and on the Tibetan Plateau.[12]
[edit] Notes
- ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Gyps himalayensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 3.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106003377. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
- ^ a b c d Rasmussen, PC & JC Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. volume 2. Washington DC and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. pp. 90–91.
- ^ Alström, P (1997). "Field identification of Asian Gyps vultures". OBC Bull. 25: 32–49.
- ^ Baker, ECS (1928). The Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 5 (2 ed.). 13-15: Taylor and Francis. http://www.archive.org/stream/BakerFbiBirds5/BakerFBI5#page/n31/mode/1up.
- ^ Blanford, WT (1895). The Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 3. London: Taylor and Francis. http://www.archive.org/stream/birdsindia03oaterich#page/321/mode/1up.
- ^ Namgail, T & Yoram Yom-Tov (2009). "Elevational range and timing of breeding in the birds of Ladakh: the effects of body mass, status and diet". J. Ornithol. 150 (2): 505–510. doi:10.1007/s10336-008-0369-8. http://www.reg.wur.nl/NR/rdonlyres/CF6DD450-51CA-46E7-950A-5655E5E00336/92675/NamgailYomTovBirds.pdf.
- ^ Schlee, M. A. (1989). "Breeding the Himalayan griffon Gyps himalayensis at the Paris menagerie". International Zoo Yearbook 28: 234–240. doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.1989.tb03288.x.
- ^ a b Ali, S & SD Ripley (1978). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 1 (2 ed.). New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 302–304.
- ^ Das, D; RJ Cuthbert; RD Jakati & V Prakash (2011). "Diclofenac Is Toxic to the Himalayan Vulture Gyps Himalayensis". Bird Conservation International 21 (1): 72–75. doi:10.1017/S0959270910000171.
- ^ Lu, Xin; Dianhua Ke, Xianhai Zeng, Guohong Gong, and Ren Ci (2009). "Status, Ecology, and Conservation of the Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis (Aves, Accipitridae) in the Tibetan Plateau". AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment 38 (3): 166–173. doi:10.1579/0044-7447-38.3.166.
- ^ Acharya, R; R Cuthbert, HS baral and KB Shah (2009). "Rapid population declines of Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis in Upper Mustang, Nepal". Bird Conservation International 19: 99–107. doi:10.1017/S0959270908007417. http://www.vulturedeclines.org/Acharya%20et%20al%202009%20Himalayan%20Griffon%20declines%20BCI.pdf.
- ^ Peters JL (1931). Check-list of the birds of the world. Volume 1. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. http://www.archive.org/stream/checklistofbirds11931pete#page/260/mode/1up.
[edit] Other sources
- Sharma, RA (2006) Status of Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis Hume, 1869 and ethno-vulture relationship in Upper Mustang, Nepal. Unpublished thesis. School of Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Raju Acharya Sharma
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gyps himalayensis |
- Himalayan Griffon Vulture videos. The Internet Bird Collection
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