175th Birdorable: Egyptian Vulture

This Earth Day we've added the 175th species to Birdorable: the Egyptian Vulture. This striking black-and-white bird with yellow face lives in southern Europe, northern Africa and southern Asia. Unfortunately, its numbers are in decline over large parts of its range.

In Europe and most of the Middle East it is only half as plentiful as it was about twenty years ago, and the populations in India and southwestern Africa have collapsed almost entirely. Vulture hieroglyphIn Egypt this bird is also known as the Pharaoh's Chicken because of its relationship with Ancient Egypt's oldest deity, Nekhbet. They referred to the bird as the Mother of Mothers and it was depicted on the front of the pharaoh's crown.

The nurturing behavior of these vultures while rearing their young led to a view of them as model parents. We saw these two Egyptian Vultures from a boat on the Chambal River in Rajasthan, India:

Egyptian Vultures

If you like our Egyptian Vulture you may also like our other Birds of Prey. Here are two sample products from our store:

Comments

Addie Owlz on April 27, 2009 at 4:29 PM wrote:
Kewlio
Spurwing Plover on January 25, 2022 at 8:11 AM wrote:
They can break a hole in a Ostrich Egg with a rock

Leave a comment

Comments with links or HTML will be deleted. Your comment will be published pending approval.
Your email address will not be published

Bluer than a Bluebird

We recently added the Indigo Bunting to Birdorable. These birds are named for the striking bright blue plumage found in breeding males. Indigo...

Good news for Red Knots

The New York Times reported last week that the number of Red Knots stopping at critical refueling grounds on the East Coast of the United States this year was double the number seen last year. Each year,...

12 Days of Birdorable: Six Geese-a-Laying

On the sixth day of Birdorable, my true love gave to me… 6 Geese-a-laying! Our 12 Days of Birdorable continues today with another brand new bird species: the Birdorable Greylag Goose. The line Six Geese-a-laying in the song...

Two new Birdorable Clocks

These high quality clocks feature twelve twelve cute Birdorable birds each. The first one features all Birdorable American birds: Robin, Tufted Titmouse, Peregrine Falcon, Black-capped Chickadee, Boreal Chickadee, Cardinal, Redhead, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Bald Eagle, Blue Jay, Killdeer and Goldfinch. The second clock features all Birdorable parrots and parakeets:...