Bearded vultures have a high stomach acid content that allows them to digest bones up to 10cm and 4kg, within a 24-hour period.
Bearded vultures have an extremely high acid content within their stomachs that allows them to digest bones within a 24-hour period. Bones up to 10 centimeters in diameter and weighing up to 4 kilograms can be consumed.
Bones are either consumed whole, broken using the bill, hammered against the ground, or lifted into the air and dropped from 50-150 meter high onto hard rock.
Sources: (BirdLife International, 2017; Ferguson-Lees & Christie, 2001; Margalida, 2008; Tenenzapf, 2011)
Image: Richard Bartz
