Bearded vulture

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), also known as the lammergeier (or lammergeyer)[a][3][4] or ossifrage, is a bird of prey and the only member of the genus Gypaetus. Traditionally considered an Old World vulture, it actually forms a 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.

The bearded vulture is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists almost exclusively (70 to 90 percent) of bone.[5] It lives and breeds on crags in high mountains in southern Europe, the Caucasus,[6][7][8] Africa,[9] the Indian subcontinent, and Tibet, laying one or two eggs in mid-winter that hatch at the beginning of spring. Populations are resident.

The population of this species continues to decline. Until July 2014, it was classified by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as being of Least Concern; it has, however, since been reassessed as Near Threatened.