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Bearded Vulture
Gypaetus barbatus
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderAccipitriformes (Hawks, Eagles, Kites, and Allies)
- FamilyAccipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites)
- GenusGypaetus (Bearded Vultures)
- SpeciesGypaetus barbatus (Bearded Vulture)
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
7 Verified sightings at Ulaanbaatar
2,813 In all 15 parks From 2019 to 2026
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted
About the Bearded Vulture
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.
The genus name Gypaetus is from Ancient... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Bearded Vulture in Ulaanbaatar
LIVEiNaturalistGlobal Distribution
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 2 | Hemis National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Hohe Tauern National Park | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 9 | Picos de Europa National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 10 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 11 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 12 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 13 | Jiuzhaigou National Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 14 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 15 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
Cities Where Found
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ulaanbaatar | 🇲🇳 Mongolia |
Zoos & Centres Where Found
Closest Relatives at Ulaanbaatar
Before you go
What are the chances of seeing a Bearded Vulture in Ulaanbaatar?
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Bearded Vulture sighting in Ulaanbaatar on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 46th most-seen of the 63 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.
When is the best time to see a Bearded Vulture in Ulaanbaatar?
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Bearded Vulture in Ulaanbaatar on a given day, against under 5% in August to June, the lowest months. That is one of Ulaanbaatar's wettest months, with about 70 mm of rain against almost none in January.
What time of day is best to see a Bearded Vulture?
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bearded Vulture sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Where else can you see a Bearded Vulture?
Only Ulaanbaatar, in our data
Ulaanbaatar is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Bearded Vulture sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Which relatives of the Bearded Vulture live in Ulaanbaatar?
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the Bearded Vulture that you can see in Ulaanbaatar (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Black Kite (about 50%), Cinereous Vulture (about 10%) and Booted Eagle (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
Where does the Bearded Vulture sighting chance come from?
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bearded Vulture is recorded against all the birds logged in Ulaanbaatar (7 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.
