Spain has the biggest colony of Griffon Vultures in the whole of Europe, in 2008 there were 25,000 birds. We are lucky enough to see them soar over our valley, often so high they are pinpricks which disappear from sight and then reappear. They are scavengers, tidying up the campo of dead animals, mostly circling in pairs or larger groups. They can reach heights of 10,000m or higher. It is exceedingly rare to see a solitary Griffon.

[photo: Wikipedia]

[photo: Wikipedia]

The longest-lived Griffon survived in captivity to the age of 55. So the Griffons which circle above our house could have been doing so since the early Sixties… the Beatles, the Stones, the first Apollo flights to the moon.

I have been a bit cheeky to feature the Griffon in my ‘Bird Song’ series, because the bird is mostly silent apart from the odd bit of hissing when it is eating. Which I didn’t know until I started researching, and thought you might not know too.

5 to remember
la colonia – the colony
el buitre leonado – the Griffon vulture
la totalidad de – the whole of
tenemos suerte – we are lucky enough
un carroñero – a scavenger

Listen to the song of these other birds we see in our Spanish valley:-
Green Woodpecker
Black Redstart
Hoopoe

Our most used bird book?
Collins Bird Guide: The Most Complete Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe [UK: Collins]

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Do you know what sound the Griffon Vulture makes? #Birds in #Spain http://wp.me/p3dYp6-28C via @Spanish_Valley