Aegypius monachus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus), also known as the black vulture, Eurasian black vulture, and monk vulture, is a very large raptor in the family Accipitridae distributed through much of temperate Eurasia. With a body length of 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in), 3.1 m (10 ft) across the wings and a maximum weight of 12.5 kg (28 lb), it is the largest Old World vulture and largest member of the family Accipitridae.
Aegypius monachus is one of the largest birds of prey and it plays an important role in its various ecosystems by eating carcasses, which in turn reduces the spread of diseases. The vultures are constantly exposed to many pathogens because of their eating carrion. A study of the gastric and immune defense systems conducted in 2015 sequenced the bird's entire genome. The study compared cinereous vultures to bald eagles, finding positively selected genetic variations associated with respiration and the ability of the vulture's immune defense responses and gastric acid secretion to digest carcasses.
The genus name Aegypius is a Greek word (αἰγυπιός) for 'vulture', or a bird not unlike one; Aelian describes the aegypius as "halfway between a vulture (gyps) and an eagle... Wikipedia →
Call0:17
France · 2013
© Fernand DEROUSSEN · XC144935 · CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Flight call0:50
Spain · 2013
© Patrik Åberg · XC148443 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Recording0:09
South Korea · 2023
© onidiras-iNaturalist · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 3 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 7 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 8 | Picos de Europa National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 9 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 12 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 13 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 14 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ulaanbaatar | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 2 | Madrid | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Seoul | 🇰🇷 South Korea | |
| 4 | Istanbul | 🇹🇷 Turkey |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 3 | Shedd Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | ZooParc de Beauval | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Denver Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Planckendael Zoo | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 7 | Cabarceno Natural Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 8 | Ostrava Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 9 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Kaliningrad Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 11 | Zoobotánico Jerez | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 12 | Nandankanan Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Beijing Wildlife Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 14 | Living Desert Zoo and Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Wisentgehege Springe | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 17 | Bangladesh National Zoo | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 18 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | WildtierPark Edersee | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 20 | Toledo Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Detroit Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | 南昌新动物园 | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 23 | Birmingham Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Wildgehege Hellenthal | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 25 | Novosibirsk Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 26 | Yerevan Zoo | 🇦🇲 Armenia | |
| 27 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 28 | Kyiv Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 29 | Taigan Safari Park | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 30 | Saint Louis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 31 | Dierenpark Hoenderdaell | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 32 | 无锡动物园 | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 33 | Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 34 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 35 | Virginia Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 36 | Parc Zoologique et Botanique de Mulhouse | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 37 | Almaty Zoo | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | |
| 38 | Adler- und Wolfspark Kasselburg | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 39 | Attica Zoological Park | 🇬🇷 Greece | |
| 40 | Soğanlı Zoo | 🇹🇷 Türkiye | |
| 41 | Akron Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 42 | Riverbanks Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 43 | Lincoln Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 44 | Royev Ruchey Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 45 | Rivne Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 46 | Buffalo Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 47 | Tbilisi Zoo | 🇬🇪 Georgia | |
| 48 | Kazan Zoo & Botanical Garden | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 49 | Екопарк Ковалівка | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 50 | Leningrad Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cinereous Vulture sighting in Madrid on a given day, based on 834 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 61st most-seen of the 196 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March to November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cinereous Vulture in Madrid on a given day, against under 5% in December to February, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cinereous Vulture sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Cinereous Vulture sightings, Madrid ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia, about 10%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Cinereous Vulture that you can see in Madrid (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Black Kite (about 20%), Red Kite (about 20%) and Common Buzzard (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cinereous Vulture is recorded against all the birds logged in Madrid (834 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
