Bearded vultures are the only animals that eat bones almost exclusively (70-90%). On Crete, it is known as the "bone eater." Birds throw large bones from height to rocky slopes, breaking them, and quickly descending into a characteristic spiral.
Why do bearded vultures eat bones?
Birds often swallow the remaining bone after working to obtain the maximum amount of bone marrow. Bearded vultures have a very elastic esophagus, so these parts can be easily swallowed. It stretches to accommodate larger bone fragments or strangely shaped fragments.
Which bird can swallow bones?
This is the only living bird species that specializes in bone marrow feeding. Bearded vultures can swallow whole fragile bones and chew up to the size of a lamb's femur, and its powerful digestive system dissolves even large fragments quickly.
How do vultures treat bones?
Small bones can be crushed with a beak, but large, dense bones must be dropped during flight into a rocky landscape called the ossuary [4]. After that, the vulture flies to the part where the bone is broken and consumes the bone marrow. This process may be repeated multiple times for the same bone.
How much weight can a bearded vulture carry?
If you are short of food, you may feed on turtles and small mammals, but this is extremely rare. They can easily carry bones that weigh 8.8 pounds (4 kg) or close to their body weight. If the bones are small, the bearded vulture will probably swallow it in its entirety.
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