Two Eurasian Griffon Vultures, Gyps fulvus, flying over the Sierra de la Plata ridge, Andalucía, Spain, on which eight other Griffons are standing.
Eurasian Griffons are colonial nesters, and there is a Griffon colony at La Zarga, which is near where I took this image. Post-breeding, the adults loaf on the cliffs and soar looking for food to scavenge. The adults are sedentary, but the juveniles disperse (many southwards of the Straits of Gibraltar to Africa) and can stay away from their natal area for a few years then come back when they are ready to breed, by which time natural mortality should have left some potential nest sites vacant.
Griffons can live around thirty years, and the juveniles don’t start to breed until their fifth year. This delayed breeding and dispersal of young birds has the added advantage of affording the juveniles extended access to food, while leaving fewer birds to compete over the food in the home area.
This image is copyright © Liz Leyden, all rights reserved.
A wider crop of this photo is available to license as a stock photo from my portfolio at iStock.
