The vulture that eats only bones and dyes itself blood red
This bird eats almost nothing but bones, and stains itself blood red on purpose.
Which one is REALLY true about the Bearded Vulture?
The short version
The bearded vulture has a nine-foot wingspan and a diet that is roughly ninety percent bone, dissolved by extreme stomach acid. It drops bones too large to swallow onto rocks from great height to shatter them, and deliberately bathes in iron-rich mud to stain its pale feathers rust red.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Bearded Vulture lives on a diet that is around ninety percent bone, which almost no other animal can manage.
- ✓The Bearded Vulture has stomach acid powerful enough to dissolve a swallowed bone in barely a day.
- ✓The Bearded Vulture carries bones too big to swallow high into the sky and drops them onto rocks, over and over, until they shatter.
- ✓The Bearded Vulture swallows the shattered fragments and digests the marrow sealed inside them.
- ✓The Bearded Vulture bathes on purpose in iron-rich mud, staining its pale feathers a deep rust red.
The Bearded Vulture is about the same length as a 7-year-old.
The full story
This bird eats almost nothing but bones, and dyes itself blood red on purpose. Meet the bearded vulture, a huge mountain scavenger with a wingspan of over nine feet. Around ninety percent of its diet is bone, and its stomach acid is so powerful that it can dissolve them in barely a day. When a bone is too big to swallow, the vulture carries it high into the sky and drops it onto the rocks below, over and over, until it shatters into pieces small enough to eat. Then it swallows the fragments and digests the marrow inside. And that striking color is not natural at all. The bird deliberately bathes in iron-rich mud, staining its pale feathers a deep rust red. Follow for more weird animal facts.
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“The Bearded Vulture lives on a diet that is around ninety percent bone, which almost no other animal can manage.”
“The Bearded Vulture smells exactly like hot buttered popcorn, thanks to a popcorn-like chemical in the oil it scent-marks with.”
“The Bearded Vulture has stomach acid powerful enough to dissolve a swallowed bone in barely a day.”