Birds of the World

Eurasian Griffon Gyps fulvus Scientific name definitions

Alfredo Salvador
Version: 6.0 — Published July 26, 2024

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Introduction

Baseline data of hematological values can be useful to compare with data of sampled Eurasian Griffon in the wild or received at rehabilitation centers. Preliminary hematological studies of the Eurasian Griffon were made in captive samples (650, 651, 652). In a sample of free living birds (n = 54) from Cinctorres (Castellón Province, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain), mean hematological values were: WBC 10.45 K/μl ± 4.93 SD, RBC 2.41 M/μl ± 0.33 SD, HGB 15.35 g/dl ± 1.04 SD, HCT 49.33 % ± 4.28 SD, and MCV 207.37 fl ± 22.18 SD. In another sample (n = 18) from the same locality which were kept in captivity for 15 and 30 d, no significant differences in blood parameters were observed. In another sample (n = 51) kept in captivity for two years at Alcara Li Fusi - Rocche del Crasto (Sicily, Italy), a significant decrease in HTC, and an increase in HGB was detected (653).

In nests (n = 18) from the islands Cres and Plavnik (Croatia), most insects (n = 249) present during the breeding season were beetles (64.26%) and ants (22.49%). Other groups of insects (cockroaches, web spinners, ants, flies, aphids) were found to occur occasionally in nests. Dermestid beetles were present in all nests, and the two most abundant species, Dermestes frischi and Anthrenus goliath, are necrophagous that feed on food remains (654).

The featherwing beetle (Ptiliolum fuscum) (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae) was found in the plumage of the Eurasian Griffon, suggesting a phoretic interaction (655).

It has been established that there was an association between Neanderthals, raptors (including the Eurasian Griffon), and corvids, in which these species were hunted; on these hunted birds, evidence of markings, including cuts and scrapes, has been found on wing bones, which has been interpreted as evidence of the extraction of large flight feathers (656). Radius bones of the Eurasian Griffon with a series of lined up holes were found at Hohle Fels (Basal Aurignacian, Upper Paleolithic, 40,000 years before present; Germany); these bones could have been used as musical instruments (657).

Recommended Citation

Salvador, A. (2024). Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus), version 6.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman and M. A. Bridwell, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.eurgri1.06
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