ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the forms, foraging and feeding habits, breeding patterns and statuses of the eight species of Griffon vultures of the Genus Gyps (Savigny 1809). The Gyps vultures are a genus of Old World vultures in the family Accipitridae, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. Compared to other vultures, the heads of Gyps species are more feathered, with a characteristic downy cover. The eight Gyps species are: the White-backed vulture (Gyps africanus); White-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis); Cape Griffon (Gyps coprotheres); Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus); Himalayan vulture (Gyps himalayensis); Indian vulture (Gyps indicus)— formerly Long-billed vulture; Rüppell’s vulture (Gyps rueppellii); and Slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris)—formerly included in G. indicus. A prehistoric species, Gyps melitensis is known only from fossil remains found in Middle to Late Pleistocene sites all over the central and eastern Mediterranean.
