Griffon Vulture

Griffon Vulture

Gyps fulvus

Silhouette: Birgit Lang · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Vanoise National Park

In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%

99 Verified sightings at Vanoise National Park From 2019 to 2026
18,604 In all 22 parks
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Griffon Vulture

The Eurasian griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It is also known as the Eurasian griffon or griffon vulture, although the latter term is sometimes used for the genus Gyps as a whole.

The griffon vulture is 93–122 cm (37–48 in) long with a 2.3–2.8 m (7.5–9.2 ft) wingspan. In the nominate race the males weigh 6.2 to 10.5 kg (14 to 23 lb) and females typically weigh 6.5 to 10.5 kg (14 to 23 lb), while in the Indian subspecies (G. f. fulvescens), the vultures average 7.1 kg (16 lb). Extreme adult weights have been reported from 4.5 to 15 kg (9.9 to 33.1 lb), the latter likely a weight attained in captivity. Hatched naked, it is a typical Old World vulture in appearance, with a white head, broad wings and short tail feathers. It has a white neck ruff and yellow bill. The buff body and wing coverts contrast with the dark flight feathers.

The Eurasian griffon vulture is resident in parts of the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Atlas Mountains, the eastern Alps, parts of Anatolia and the Caucasus, parts of the Arabian Peninsula and the Iranian plateau, and in the Tian Shan and... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Begging call0:59

Spain · 2022

© Corentin Rivière · XC839932 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:34

Spain · 2022

© SonoNatura · XC722566 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:22

Spain · 2018

© Stanislas Wroza · XC423927 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Picos de Europa National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~90%
2 Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~80%
3 Monfragüe National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~70%
4 Aigüestortes National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~70%
5 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
~70%
6 Sierra de Guadarrama National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~60%
7 Cévennes National Park 🇫🇷 France
~50%
8 Mercantour National Park 🇫🇷 France
~50%
9 Hohe Tauern National Park 🇦🇹 Austria
~30%
10 Ecrins National Park 🇫🇷 France
~30%
11 Doñana National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~20%
12 Vanoise National Park 🇫🇷 France
~20%
13 Sierra Nevada National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
14 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
15 Triglav National Park 🇸🇮 Slovenia
<5%
16 Bandhavgarh National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
17 Jim Corbett National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
18 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
19 Ranthambore National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
20 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
21 Satpura National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
22 Keoladeo National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Madrid 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
2 Jodhpur 🇮🇳 India
<5%
3 Dushanbe 🇹🇯 Tajikistan
<5%
4 Tangier 🇲🇦 Morocco
<5%
5 Istanbul 🇹🇷 Turkey
<5%
6 Dehradun 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Moscow Zoo 🇷🇺 Russia In captivity
2 Pairi Daiza 🇧🇪 Belgium In captivity
3 ZooParc de Beauval 🇫🇷 France In captivity
4 Natura Artis Magistra 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity
5 Aquarium of Genoa 🇮🇹 Italy In captivity
6 Barcelona Zoo 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
7 Le Pal 🇫🇷 France In captivity
8 Zlín-Lešná Zoo 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
9 Ostrava Zoo 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
10 Paris Zoological Park 🇫🇷 France In captivity
11 Zoo Pilsen 🇨🇿 Czechia In captivity
12 Walsrode World Bird Park 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
13 Parc des oiseaux 🇫🇷 France In captivity
14 Zoo de Doué 🇫🇷 France In captivity
15 Kaliningrad Zoo 🇷🇺 Russia In captivity
16 Zoobotánico Jerez 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
17 Le rocher des aigles 🇫🇷 France In captivity
18 Espace Rambouillet 🇫🇷 France In captivity
19 Safaripark Beekse Bergen 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity
20 Domaine des Grottes de Han 🇧🇪 Belgium In captivity
21 Nehru Zoological Park 🇮🇳 India In captivity
22 Badoca Safari Park 🇵🇹 Portugal In captivity
23 Parc animalier de Sainte-Croix 🇫🇷 France In captivity
24 Safari Madrid 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
25 Cheyenne Mountain Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
26 WildtierPark Edersee 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
27 Rabat Zoo 🇲🇦 Morocco In captivity
28 Wildgehege Hellenthal 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
29 Yerevan Zoo 🇦🇲 Armenia In captivity
30 Zoo La Barben 🇫🇷 France In captivity
31 Giza Zoo 🇪🇬 Egypt In captivity
32 Kyiv Zoo 🇺🇦 Ukraine In captivity
33 Târgu Mureș Zoo 🇷🇴 Romania In captivity
34 Carmel Hai-Bar Nature Reserve 🇮🇱 Israel In captivity
35 Wilhelma 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
36 Zoo de La Flèche 🇫🇷 France In captivity
37 DierenPark Amersfoort 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity
38 Almaty Zoo 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan In captivity
39 Zoo Aquarium de Madrid 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
40 GaiaZOO 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity
41 Bad Mergentheim Wildlife Park 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
42 Nikolaev Zoo 🇺🇦 Ukraine In captivity
43 Schönbrunn Zoo 🇦🇹 Austria In captivity
44 Adler- und Wolfspark Kasselburg 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
45 Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden 🇭🇺 Hungary In captivity
46 Havana Zoo 🇨🇺 Cuba In captivity
47 Łódź Zoo 🇵🇱 Poland In captivity
48 ZooParc Overloon 🇳🇱 Netherlands In captivity
49 Kharkiv Zoo 🇺🇦 Ukraine In captivity
50 Ueno Zoo 🇯🇵 Japan In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Griffon Vulture in Vanoise National Park?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Griffon Vulture sighting in Vanoise National Park on a given day, based on 99 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 39th most-seen of the 81 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Griffon Vulture in Vanoise National Park?

July to September

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Griffon Vulture in Vanoise National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December, the lowest month. November has too few records to rate.

What time of day is best to see a Griffon Vulture?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Griffon 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.

Which relatives of the Griffon Vulture live in Vanoise National Park?

Same family: Accipitridae

The closest relatives of the Griffon Vulture that you can see in Vanoise National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are Golden Eagle (about 30%), Bearded Vulture (about 30%) and Short-toed Eagle (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Griffon Vulture sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Griffon Vulture is recorded against all the birds logged in Vanoise National Park (99 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.

← Back to Vanoise National Park