Sylvester41C at 05:22, 20 January 2026

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{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| status = NT
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |title=''Gyps himalayensis'' |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |article-number=e.T22695215A118594518 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22695215A118594518.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| image = Himalayan_Griffon_(Gyps_himalayensis).jpg
| genus = Gyps
| species = himalayensis
| authority = [[Allan Octavian Hume|Hume]], 1869<ref>{{cite book |author=Hume, A.O.H. |year=1869 |title=My scrap book: or rough notes on Indian oology and ornithology |location=Calcutta |publisher=C.B. Lewis, Baptist Mission Press |pages=12–18 |chapter=''Gyps fulvus'', Gmel. (''Gyps himalayensis'', nobis.) |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/myscrapbookorrou00hume/page/12/mode/2up}}</ref>
| range_map = GypsHimalayensisMap.svg
}}

The '''Himalayan vulture''' ('''''Gyps himalayensis''''') or '''Himalayan griffon vulture''' is an [[Old World vulture]] native to the [[Himalayas]] and foothills in [[North India|North]] and [[Northeast India|Northeastern India]], as well as the adjacent [[Tibetan Plateau]]. After the [[cinereous vulture]] (''Aegypius monachus''), it is the second-largest Old World vulture species, and among the world's largest true [[Accipitridae|raptor]]s. It is listed as [[Near Threatened]] on the [[IUCN Red List]].<ref name=iucn /> It is not to be confused with the [[Eurasian griffon vulture]] (''Gyps fulvus''), which is a visually similar, [[sympatric]] species.<ref>{{cite journal|title=MDPI-Home Range, Movement and Activity Patterns of Six Vulture Species|journal=Ecologies |date=December 2022 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=492–507 |doi=10.3390/ecologies3040035 |doi-access=free |last1=Ram |first1=Mohan |last2=Sahu |first2=Aradhana |last3=Tikadar |first3=Shyamal |last4=Gadhavi |first4=Devesh |last5=Rather |first5=Tahir Ali |last6=Jhala |first6=Lahar |last7=Zala |first7=Yashpal }}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Himalayan Vulture, Dhauladhar Range.jpg|thumb|Adult spotted in [[Dhauladhar]] range]]
[[File:Juvenile Himalayan Griffon Vulture (Gyps himalayensis).jpg|thumb|Juvenile in flight]]
{{birdbox
|pop1=<ref name=pcr/><ref name=RaptorsWorld /><ref name="Brown"/>
|data1={{birdbox/population |unit=mm |length=1030-1150 |wing=755-805 |tail=355-405 |tarsus=110-126
|culmen=71-77}}
}}

The Himalayan vulture has dark brown greater [[covert feather]]s, tail and wing quills, but a pale buff uniform upperside and paler tipped inner secondaries; its legs are covered with buffy feathers and vary in colour from greenish grey to pale brown. The underside and under-wing coverts are pale brown or buff, almost white in some individuals. The whitish down on the head of immatures changes to yellowish in adults who have a long and pale brown [[Ruff (bird)|ruff]] with white streaks and long and spiky ruff feathers.<ref name="Brown">{{cite book |title=Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World |author1=Brown, L. |author2=Amadon, D. |name-list-style=amp |publisher=The Wellfleet Press |date=1986 |isbn=978-1-55521-472-2}}</ref>

The pale blue facial skin is lighter than the dark blue in ''Gyps fulvus'' with this species having a yellowish 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, one of the best methods to distinguish this species from the slightly smaller griffon vulture.<ref name=pcr>{{cite book |author1=Rasmussen, P.C. |author2=Anderton, J.C. |name-list-style=amp |year=2005 |title=Birds of South Asia, The Ripley Guide |volume=2 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions |place=Washington DC and Barcelona |pages=90–91}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Alström, P. |year=1997 |title=Field identification of Asian ''Gyps'' vultures |journal=OBC Bull |volume=25 |pages=32–49}}</ref> The feathers on the body have pale shaft streaks.<ref name="Brown"/><ref name=fbi2>{{cite book |title=The Fauna of British India: Birds |volume=5 |edition=2nd |year=1928 |author=Baker, E.C.S. |publisher=Taylor and Francis |pages=13–15 |url=https://archive.org/stream/BakerFbiBirds5/BakerFBI5#page/n31/mode/1up}}</ref><ref name=fbi1>{{cite book |year=1895 |title=The Fauna of British India |volume=3. Birds |publisher=Taylor and Francis |place=London |author=Blanford, W.T. |chapter=''Gyps himalayensis''. The Himalayan Griffon |page=321 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/birdsindia03oaterich#page/321/mode/1up}}</ref>

It is the largest of the ''Gyps'' species, averaging larger in every method of measurement than its relatives, and is perhaps the largest and heaviest bird in the Himalayas.<ref name=RaptorsWorld/>
Weight in Himalayan vultures ranges from {{cvt|6|kg}}<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Barathidasan, R. |author2=Singh, S.D. |author3=Saini, M. |author4=Sharma, A. |author5=Dhama, K. |name-list-style=amp |year=2013 |title=The first case of angioinvasive pulmonary aspergillosis in a Himalayan Griffon Vulture (''Gyps himalayensis'') |journal=Avian Biology Research |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=302–306 |doi=10.3184/175815513X13818257354160 |s2cid=87695235}}</ref> to {{cvt|12.5|kg}}.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Grzimek, B. |author2=Schlager, N. |author3=Olendorf, D. |author4=McDade, M.C. |name-list-style=amp |year=2004 |title=Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia |volume=8: Birds |location=Farmington Hills, Michigan |publisher=Gale}}</ref> It has been estimated to weigh an average of {{cvt|9|kg}}, but weights vary with conditions from {{cvt|8|-|12|kg}}.<ref name=RaptorsWorld/><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Ornithology |year=2009 |volume=150 |pages=505–510 |issue=2 |s2cid=29756171 |doi=10.1007/s10336-008-0369-8 |title=Elevational range and timing of breeding in the birds of Ladakh: the effects of body mass, status and diet |author1=Namgail, T. |author2=Yom-Tov, Y. |bibcode=2009JOrni.150..505N |name-list-style=amp |url=http://www.reg.wur.nl/NR/rdonlyres/CF6DD450-51CA-46E7-950A-5655E5E00336/92675/NamgailYomTovBirds.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Schlee, M.A. |year=1989 |title=Breeding the Himalayan griffon ''Gyps himalayensis'' at the Paris menagerie |journal=International Zoo Yearbook |volume=28 |pages=234–240 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-1090.1989.tb03288.x}}</ref> Published measurements of the wingspan vary from {{cvt|2.56|to|3.1|m}}, a similar range to that of cinereous vulture,<ref name= RaptorsWorld/><ref name="Brown"/> but the wingspan varies greatly depending on the method used to measure them.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Ornitologia Neotropical |volume=9 |pages=23–30 |year=1998 |title=Suggestions for measuring external characters of birds |author=Winker, K. |url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/on/v009n01/p0023-p0030.pdf}}</ref>

It differs from the similar-coloured [[Indian vulture]] (''G. indicus'') by a stouter, more robust bill; younger birds have a pale bill and tend to have buffy-white streaks on the scapulars and wing coverts contrasting with dark brown underparts.<ref name="Brown"/> It is similar in size to the [[cinereous vulture]] (''Aegypius monachus''), which typically has a slightly shorter overall length but can weigh more than the Himalayan vulture.<ref name=RaptorsWorld>{{cite book |author=Ferguson-Lees, J. |author2=Christie, D. |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=Raptors of the World |publisher=Christopher Helm |series=[[Helm Identification Guides]] |location=London |pages=717–719 |isbn=0-7136-8026-1}}</ref><ref name="HBW">{{cite book |title=[[Handbook of the Birds of the World]] |author1=Del Hoyo, J. |author2=Elliot, A. |author3=Sargatal, J. |name-list-style=amp |year=1996 |publisher=[[Lynx Edicions]] |location=[[Barcelona]] |isbn=84-87334-20-2 |volume=3}}</ref>

==Distribution==
[[File:Himalayan griffon (Gyps Himalayensis) in Spiti.JPG|thumb|Himalayan griffons in [[Lahaul and Spiti district|Spiti]]]]
The Himalayan vulture lives mainly in the higher regions of the Himalayas and the [[Tibetan Plateau]] at the elevation range of {{cvt|1200-5500|m}}. It is distributed from [[Kazakhstan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Afghanistan]] and [[Iran]] to [[Pakistan]] to [[India]], [[Nepal]], [[Bhutan]] to [[western China]] and [[Mongolia]].<ref name=iucn /> Juvenile birds may however disperse further south, and vagrants have been recorded in [[Thailand]], [[Burma]], [[Singapore]] and [[Cambodia]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Forktail |title=The status of the Himalayan Griffon ''Gyps himalayensis'' in South-East Asia |author1=Li, D.L. |author2=Kasorndorkbua, C. |name-list-style=amp |volume=24 |year=2008 |pages=57–62 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256491501}}</ref>

==Behaviour and ecology==

===Diet===
The Himalayan vulture perches on crags, favourite sites showing white marks from regular defecation. They tend to not range below an elevation of {{cvt|1215|m}}.<ref name="Brown"/> Himalayan vultures often 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. This vulture makes a rattling sound when descending on a carcass and can grunt or hiss at roosts or when feeding on [[carrion]].<ref name=pcr/> While feeding, individuals may make cackling sounds to defend their food from other vultures or even reprimand them. They are social birds, and are hence found in large flocks, while even being accompanied by crows (observed with other vulture species as well). Such crows cannot interfere with the flocks (as vultures are physically larger and stronger than crows), but vehicular traffic, human interference, and attacks from herding dogs can pose a disturbance.

They have been recorded eating carrion exclusively, some which is fed on even when putrid.<ref name="Brown" /> On the Tibetan Plateau, it was noted that 64% of their diet was obtained from deceased domestic [[yak]] (''Bos grunniens'').<ref name="tibet" /> The birds fed on old carcasses, sometimes even waiting for several days near a dead animal.<ref name="pcr" /><ref name="hbk">{{cite book |author1=Ali, S. |author2=Ripley, S.D. |name-list-style=amp |year=1978 |edition=Second |title=Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan |volume=1 |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=[[New Delhi]] |pages=302–304}}</ref> However, each vulture species has a specialty diet: Himalayan vultures largely disdain [[offal]] (which is readily eaten by other vulture species), typically eating only fleshy tissue.<ref name="Brown" /> Historically, Himalayan vultures regularly fed on human corpses left out on [[Sky burial|Celestial burial grounds]].<ref name="Brown" />

The Himalayan vulture is fairly defensive around other scavengers, such as [[Fox|foxes]] or smaller [[Felidae|felines]], and typically dominates other meat-eaters at carcasses, though it is subservient to [[gray wolf|gray wolves]] (''Canis lupus''), [[snow leopard]]s (''Panthera uncia'') and cinereous vultures (''Aegypius monachus'').<ref name="Brown" /> In a large party, these vultures can reportedly strip a carcass of all tissue in 30 minutes, and do the same to a yak carcass in roughly 120 minutes.<ref name="Brown" /> Himalayan vultures have been observed feeding on [[pine]] (''Pinus roxburghii'') needles, an unexplained behaviour that cannot be for obtaining nutrition, but may be done to access [[Essential oil|essential oils]] and [[Terpene|terpenes]] in the needles for digestive or immunity benefits.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Indian Birds |volume=2 |issue=6 |year=2006 |title=Himalayan Griffon ''Gyps himalayensis'' feeding on chir pine ''Pinus roxburghii'' needles |author1=Atkore, V. M. |author2=Dasgupta, S. |name-list-style=amp |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237302481}}</ref>

===Breeding===
The breeding season begins in January. The nest is a platform of sticks placed on an inaccessible ledge on a cliff. Nest in northeastern India have been recorded at between {{cvt|1215|and|1820|m}} in elevation, but those in Tibet have been as high as {{cvt|4245|m}}.<ref name="Brown"/> Several pairs may nest on the same cliff face, with between five and seven pairs being a typical colony size.<ref name="Brown"/> The nests are relatively small for the large size of these birds and, although grow larger with repeated uses, do not generally get as massive as the nest of other large accipitrids.<ref name="Brown"/> There is at least one recorded instance of Himalayan vultures using a nest made by [[bearded vulture]]s (''Gypaetus barbatus'').<ref name="Brown"/> On the Tibetan Plateau, Himalayan and bearded vultures were observed nesting in close proximity without conflict, which is notable because in several other cases of adjacent interspecies nesting by Old World vultures (including some involving bearded vultures) have resulted in high aggression and interspecies attacks.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Katzner, T.E. |author2=Lai, C.H. |author3=Gardiner, J.D. |name-list-style=amp |author4=Foggin, J.M. |author5=Pearson, D. |author6=Smith, A.T. |year=2004 |title=Adjacent nesting by Lammergeier ''Gypaetus barbatus'' and Himalayan griffon ''Gyps himalayensis'' on the Tibetan Plateau, China |journal=Forktail |volume=20 |pages=94–96}}</ref> A single white egg marked with red splotches is the usual clutch.<ref name=hbk/> Egg laying dates in northern India have ranged from December 25 to March 7.<ref name="Brown"/> The egg is coarse and oval and can measure from {{cvt|87|to|103.6|mm}} in height and {{cvt|65|to|74|mm}} in width, with an average of {{cvt|94.8|by|70.1|mm}}.<ref name="Brown"/> In captivity the incubation period was about 54–58 days. The young birds stay on with the parents for six to seven months.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Schlee, M.A. |year=1989 |title=Breeding the Himalayan griffon ''Gyps himalayensis'' at the Paris Menagerie |journal=International Zoo Yearbook |volume=28 |pages=234–240 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-1090.1989.tb03288.x}}</ref>

==Threats==
{{See also|Indian vulture crisis}}
[[File:Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal.jpg|alt=Himalayan griffon in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal|thumb|Himalayan vultures in [[Jalpaiguri]], West Bengal]]
[[File:Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) near Jalpaiguri, West Bengal.jpg|thumb|Himalayan griffon near Jalpaiguri]]
Himalayan vultures are susceptible to toxicity induced by [[diclofenac]], a drug whose residues in domestic animal carcasses has led to rapid declines in populations of other ''Gyps'' vultures across Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Das, D. |author2=Cuthbert, R.J. |author3=Jakati, R.D. |author4=Prakash, V. |name-list-style=amp |title=Diclofenac is toxic to the Himalayan Vulture ''Gyps himalayensis'' |journal=Bird Conservation International |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=72–75 |year=2011 |doi=10.1017/S0959270910000171 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The Himalayan griffon vulture populations have however not shown signs of rapid decline,<ref name=tibet>{{cite journal |journal=Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=166–173 |year=2009 |doi=10.1579/0044-7447-38.3.166 |title=Status, Ecology, and Conservation of the Himalayan Griffon ''Gyps himalayensis'' (Aves, Accipitridae) in the Tibetan Plateau |author=Lu, X. |author2=Ke, D. |author3=Zeng, X. |author4=Gong, G. |author5=Ci, R. |name-list-style=amp |pmid=19580034 |bibcode=2009Ambio..38..166L |s2cid=22551672}}</ref> although reductions in nesting birds have been noted in some parts of its range in Nepal.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Bird Conservation International |year=2009 |volume=19 |pages=99–107 |doi=10.1017/S0959270908007417 |title=Rapid population declines of Himalayan Griffon ''Gyps himalayensis'' in Upper Mustang, Nepal |author1=Acharya, R. |author2=Cuthbert, R. |author3=Baral, H.S. |author4=Shah, K.B. |name-list-style=amp |url=https://save-vultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/rapid_population_declines_of_himalayan_griffon_gyps_himalayensis_in_upper_mustang_nepal.pdf |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Virani, M.Z. |author2=Giri, J.B. |author3=Watson, R.T. |author4=Baral, H.S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2008 |title=Surveys of Himalayan Vultures (''Gyps himalayensis'') in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Mustang, Nepal |journal=Journal of Raptor Research |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=197–203 |doi=10.3356/JRR-07-35.1 |s2cid=52059532 |url=https://save-vultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Suveys-of-Himalayan-vultures....pdf}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Gyps himalayensis}}
* [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=620 Himalayan griffon vulture videos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926212335/http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=620 |date=2007-09-26 }}. The Internet Bird Collection

{{Vulture}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q643101}}

[[Category:Gyps|Himalayan vulture]]
[[Category:Old World vultures|Himalayan vulture]]
[[Category:Birds of the Himalayas]]
[[Category:Birds of Tibet]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1869|Himalayan vulture]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Allan Octavian Hume|Himalayan vulture]]

Himalayan vulture - Revision history

Sylvester41C at 05:22, 20 January 2026