Himalayan Vulture

Gyps himalayensis (Hume, 1869)

		adult soaring adult soaring juvenile
2004-07-22 Talgar region, Almaty oblast 2007-05-25 Upper Charyn river Almaty oblast2009-06-19 Plateau KokJailau, Ile Alatau National Park	© Vladilen Karassev © Andrey Kovalenko© Askar Isabekov

Distribution

Breeds in rocks of Dzhungarskiy Alatau, Northern and Central Tien Shan. The new colonies were found in Zailiyskiy Alatau (gorge Chilik) in July 1989; in upper reaches of Charyn river (1700 m.) in July 2002; and in Kirgizskiy Alatau near Merke in April – June 2001. One bird was recorded 4 January 2003 on Sorbulak lake.

Biology

Himalayan Vulture is rare resident. Inhabits the mountains on altitudes 1700-3100 m. The known colonies contain from 3-5 pairs and set on the big rocks. Nests are placed in recesses at 100-400 m above the ground; nests are built from dry twigs and are lined with grass and hair, and used some years in succession. In April and early May the nests were with one egg each. Nestlings hatched in end-May; in mid-July the juveniles were about same as adult in size. No other data. On Chokpak Station one bird observed 20 September 2003.

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005. Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999.