| Everywhere in the mountains you see griffon vultures (gyps fulvus, γύπας or όρνεο) circling around in search of prey. |
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But especially in the Asterousia Mountains, south Crete, they hover in large flocks. | |||
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| Around the base of the mountainpeak of Kofinas a large number of the impressive birds - 1 m high and with a wingspan of 2.8 meters - gathers. |
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Actually, there is also great probability to see them sitting on the ground. |
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| The
griffon vulture
has an extraordinarily
sophisticated vision and
can easily detect even
small prey from a
height of about
3 km.
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Although the vulture is a scavenger, |
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it does not hesitate to look for feed in more "populated" areas, as here in a sheepfold on the northern side of Asterousia. |
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The griffon vulture is a social bird that builds its nest on the steep cliffs - often in small colonies. The female reaches sexual maturity at 4-5 years of age. It lays only one egg at a time (January to March). Both the adult birds incubates the egg for nearly two months, but there has to pass another two months before the baby bird comes out on its first flight. |
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