Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier)

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Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier) in the UK

The Bearded Vulture is not on the British List. Two have been seen here, both immatures wandering north from the Alps, where the species has been reintroduced since 1987. The first toured Gwent, Devon and Cornwall in May 2016. The second, a female hatched in a wild nest in Haute-Savoie in 2019, spent June to October 2020 in England, mostly in the Peak District. Both sit in Category E, because the records committee does not yet judge the Alpine population to be self-sustaining. The nearest long-established native birds are in the Pyrenees.

Where the Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier) lives

You cannot plan to see one in Britain. Both birds turned up in late spring or early summer, when young Alpine birds roam, and both were seen on the near Continent first. The 2020 bird used the moors of the northern Peak District for weeks, moved to the Lincolnshire Fens in early October and left over Beachy Head, East Sussex, on 15 October. News of each spread through the bird news services within hours. For a reliable sighting, go to the Pyrenees or the Alps.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: High mountains, alpine cliffs.
Diet: Bone marrow.
Field note: Drops bones to crack them.

How to identify a Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier)

Huge: a wingspan of 2.3 to 2.8 metres, bigger than a White-tailed Eagle. Shape is the best feature. The wings are long, narrow and pointed and the tail is long and diamond-shaped, so the outline looks like a giant falcon. Adults have a cream or rusty-orange head and underparts, slate-dark wings and a black mask that ends in the bristly 'beard'. Young birds, like both British visitors, are blackish-brown on the head and neck with a grey-brown body, and take five to seven years to reach adult plumage. It glides low along ridges on flat wings.

Call and song

Usually silent. On the breeding grounds it gives shrill whistles in display and a falcon-like chattering call near the nest. Do not expect to hear a wandering bird.

Confusion species

• White-tailed Eagle: White-tailed Eagle has broad, parallel-edged wings with fingered tips and a short wedge tail, not narrow pointed wings and a long diamond tail.
• Griffon Vulture: Griffon has very broad wings with deeply fingered tips, a short square tail and a sandy body with a pale head.
• Golden Eagle: Golden Eagle is smaller, with wings that pinch in at the body and a shorter, square-ended tail.

Related guide Rare birds in the UK.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier) is a Legendary tier bird, worth +50 points when you log one. It is on our list as a European species. It is not on the British List.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Northern RavenUncommon · Mountains
• Alpine AccentorLegendary · Mountains (very rare)
• Blue Rock ThrushLegendary · Rocky cliffs (very rare)
• Brown BoobyLegendary · Sea-cliffs (very rare)
• Cinereous VultureLegendary · Wooded hills
• Citril FinchLegendary · Mountains (extreme vagrant)

Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier): quick answers

Has a Bearded Vulture ever been seen in the UK?

Yes, twice. One wandered through Gwent, Devon and Cornwall in May 2016, and a young female spent June to October 2020 in England, mostly in the Peak District. Neither counts for the British List because both came from the reintroduced Alpine population.

What does a Bearded Vulture eat?

Mostly bone. Around 85 to 90 per cent of the diet is bones and marrow, taken from carcasses that other scavengers have already stripped. Bones too big to swallow are carried 50 to 150 metres up and dropped onto rocks to break them.

Is the Bearded Vulture rare in the UK?

It is not a British bird at all in the formal sense. Only two individuals have ever been recorded, and both are filed in Category E, the category for birds from populations that are not self-sustaining. If the Alpine population is one day accepted as established, that could change for future arrivals.

Kit that helps

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