To do this, they take these bones to their feet and take off, dropping them very accurately from a height of about 60 meters onto the surface of an open rock called the ossuary. They quickly descend and remove the exposed bone marrow with a coarse scoop-like tongue. Some bones can only break after being dropped many times.
What do vultures do to their 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 does a bearded vulture digest bone?
Bearded vulture stomach acid has a pH of less than 1. It is incredibly acidic and allows for rapid decomposition of bones, skin, teeth and hooves. Large bone masses usually dissolve within 24 hours [10].
Do vultures eat bone marrow?
Consume the entire bone, not just the bone marrow. Small ones can be eaten whole, but large ones are carried out of the corpse and dropped from a large height to break. Vultures have very acidic gastric juice and a long intestinal tract, which helps digest a unique diet.
Do bearded vultures eat bones?
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.
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