Habitat

Habitat in breeding range shows great variation between open oak forest, montane pine forest, mountain plateaux and forested slopes, steppes, semi-deserts, deserts, open montane juniper woodland, and semi-arid alpine meadows and grassland.

In the non-breeding range, the species uses various open/dry habitats, mainly barren or sparsely vegetated ones, including grassland, closed shrubland, woody savanna, and open shrubland, steppe, plains and desert areas, arid and semi-arid steppe, marshland mixed with scrubland, pasturelands, pine forest and sandy areas.

In Spain, the most extensive breeding habitat is formed by open oak forests (40–50 trees/ha) in Mediterranean regions, at elevations below 1,600 m. In Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, and Andalucía, natural or semi-natural habitats used by breeding birds are mainly evergreen oak parkland, open areas, scrub, and woodland, at 200‒800 m. The most important trees in such areas are cork oak (Quercus suber) and holm oak (Quercus ilex). In the north of Iberia, it is also found in pine forests of the Central Ranges, below 1,900 m (16 Bernis, F. (1966). El Buitre negro (Aegypius monachus) en Iberia. Ardeola 12(1):45–99. Close , 160 Donázar, J. A., G. Blanco, F. Hiraldo, E. Soto-Largo, and J. Oria (2002). Effects of forestry and other land-use practices on the conservation of Cinereous Vultures. Ecological Applications 12(5):1445–1456. Close , 161 Morán-López, R., J. M. Sánchez Guzmán, E. Costillo Borrego, and A. Villegas Sánchez (2006). Nest-site selection of endangered cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) populations affected by anthropogenic disturbance: present and future conservation implications. Animal Conservation 9(1):29–37. Close , 162 Costillo, E. (2005). Biología y conservación de las poblaciones de buitre negro Aegypius monachus en Extremadura. Ph.D. thesis, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain. Close , 163 Costillo, E., C. Corbacho, J. M. Sánchez, and A. Villegas (2007). Áreas de campeo. In Manual de gestión del hábitat y de las poblaciones de buitre negro en España (R. Moreno-Opo and F. Guil, Editors), Dirección General para la Biodiversidad, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Madrid, Spain. pp. 132–141. Close , 164 Guerrero-Casado, J., R. Arenas, and F. Tortosa (2013). Modelling the nesting-habitat of the Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus on a fine scale for conservation purposes. Bird Study 60(4):533–538. Close ).

In France, it breeds in the Grands Causses region, a mountainous karstic area with level-ground open areas and cliffs with steep forested slopes (165 Mihoub, J. B., F. Jiguet, P. Lécuyer, B. Eliotout, and F. Sarrazin (2013). Modelling nesting site suitability in a population of reintroduced Eurasian black vultures Aegypius monachus in the Grands Causses, France. Oryx 48(1):116–124. Close ). Breeding habitat in Crimea is in mountains (up to 1,545 m above sea level) with plateaux and slopes forested with Crimean pine (Pinus pallasiana), oak (Quercus petraea), beech (Fagus orientalis), and hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) (166 Osipova, M., B. Appak, N. Bagrikova, M. Beskaravainy, N. Klestov, S. Kostin, and A. Tsvelykh (2012). The Black Vulture Aegypius monachus in Ukraine. In The Black Vulture: Status, Conservation and Studies. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on the Black Vulture Aegypius monachus (Cordoba, Spain, 21–23 October 2004) (P. M. Dobado and R. Arenas, Editors), Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía, Córdoba, Spain. pp. 105–113. Close ). In Türkiye, the species is typically found in montane forest below 900 m (167 Kirwan, G. M., K. A. Boyla, P. Castell, B. Demirci, M. Özen, H. Welch, and T. Marlow (2008). The Birds of Turkey: the Distribution, Taxonomy and Breeding of Turkish Birds. Christopher Helm, London, UK Close ), e.g., in the Turkmenbaba Dağları (Türkiye) it occupies steppe and forest with black pine (Pinus nigra), Turkish oak (Quercus cerris), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), and Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis) (168 Yamac, E. (2007). Roosting tree selection of Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus in breeding season in Turkey. Podoces 2(1):30–36. Close ).

In Georgia, breeding habitats include steppe and semi-desert with small arid woodlands and strips of riparian forest (169 Gavashelishvili, A. (2012). The Black Vulture Aegypius monachus in Georgia. In The Black Vulture: Status, Conservation and Studies. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on the Black Vulture Aegypius monachus (Cordoba, Spain, 21–23 October 2004) (P. M. Dobado and R. Arenas, Editors), Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía, Córdoba, Spain. pp. 114–120. Close ). In Azerbaijan, it is present in forests of oak (Quercus longipes), juniper, and pistachio (Pistacia sp.) on steep slopes of the Bozdag Mountains, and river canyons with junipers and pistachios at 2,000‒2,200 m above sea level (170 Sultanov, E. (2012). The Black Vulture Aegypius monachus in Azerbaijan. In The Black Vulture: Status, Conservation and Studies. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on the Black Vulture Aegypius monachus (Cordoba, Spain, 21–23 October 2004) (P. M. Dobado and R. Arenas, Editors), Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía, Córdoba, Spain. pp. 126–130. Close ). In Armenia, the Cinereous Vulture occurs in forest and arid mountain steppe, open juniper woodland, and scrubby grassland (171 Adamian, M. S., and D. Klem (1999). Handbook of the Birds of Armenia. American University of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia. Close ). In Altai-Sayan (Russia), it nests in montane steppe at low elevations ( 81 Karyakin I. V., L. I. Konovalov, M. A. Grabovskiy, and E. G. Nikolenko (2009). Vultures of the Altai-Sayan Region. Raptors Conservation 15:37–65. Close ).

In Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), it breeds in low- or mid-elevation mountains or hills near open habitats, and on montane slopes near open plateaux at higher elevations. Other breeding habitats include higher-elevation slopes with pistachios (Pistacia vera), almonds (Amygdalus sp.), and junipers (Juniperus zeravschanica), and in canyons (77 Sklyarenko, S. L., and T. Katzner (2012). The Black Vulture Aegypius monachus in central Asia. In The Black Vulture: Status, Conservation and Studies. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on the Black Vulture Aegypius monachus (Cordoba, Spain, 21–23 October 2004) (P. M. Dobado and R. Arenas, Editors), Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía, Córdoba, Spain. pp. 136–144. Close ).

In Mongolia, the species occurs in steppe, semi-desert, desert, and mountain ranges (172 Meyburg, B.-U., and C. Meyburg (1983). Vultures in Mongolia. In Vulture Biology and Management (S. R. Wilburg and J. A. Jackson, Editors), University of California Press, Berkeley, California, USA. pp. 98–106. Close , 173 Stubbe, M., A. Stubbe, N. Batsajchan, S. Gombobaatar, T. Stenzel, H. von Wehrden, S. Boldbaatar, B. Nyambayar, D. Sumjaa, R. Samjaa, N. Ceveenmjadag, and A. Bold (2010). Brutareale und Brutbiologie der Greifvogelarten der Mongolei. Erforschung Biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei 11:23–175. Close , 174 Reading, R. P., D. Kenny, J. Azua, T. Garrett, M. J. Willis, and T. Purevsuren (2010). Ecology of Eurasian Black Vultures (Aegypius monachus) in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia. Erforschung Biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei 11:177–188. Close ). Habitat at Ikh Nart Nature Reserve (Mongolia), one of the species’ breeding areas, is an upland (1,200 m) semi-arid region characterized by steppe vegetation, scattered trees, and rocky outcrops; permanent springs are available in some shallow valleys (174 Reading, R. P., D. Kenny, J. Azua, T. Garrett, M. J. Willis, and T. Purevsuren (2010). Ecology of Eurasian Black Vultures (Aegypius monachus) in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia. Erforschung Biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei 11:177–188. Close ). In China, breeding habitats include montane forest and scrub at 780‒3,800 m, and semi-arid alpine meadows and grasslands between 3,800 and 4,500 m elevation (175 Xiao-Ti, Y. (1991). Distribution and status of the Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus in China. Birds of Prey Bulletin 4:51–56. Close ).

Roost Sites

Roosts near to nests are used between October and January, and the species may also roost within nesting areas together with the Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus) (16 Bernis, F. (1966). El Buitre negro (Aegypius monachus) en Iberia. Ardeola 12(1):45–99. Close , 176 Valverde, J. A. (1966). Sobre Buitres Negros en Andalucía. Ardeola 12(1):101–115. Close ). During the breeding season, the adult Cinereous Vulture selects older trees (Pinus nigra) for roosting, at a colony in the Turkmenbaba Dağları (Türkiye). Mean distance to the nearest occupied and unoccupied nests was 189 m ± 138.9 SD and 83 m ± 74.4 SD, respectively (n = 17) (168 Yamac, E. (2007). Roosting tree selection of Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus in breeding season in Turkey. Podoces 2(1):30–36. Close ). The Cinereous Vulture, mainly immatures, has been observed roosting on old oak trees at Biala Reka (Macedonia) (177 Hristov, H., D. Demerdzhiev, and S. Stoychev (2012). The Black Vulture Aegypius monachus in Bulgaria. In The Black Vulture: Status, Conservation and Studies. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on the Black Vulture Aegypius monachus (Cordoba, Spain, 21–23 October 2004) (P. M. Dobado and R. Arenas, Editors), Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía, Córdoba, Spain. pp. 96–104. Close ).

Habitats used outside the breeding range and season have not been studied in detail, but field observations and movements of vultures equipped with GPS transmitters have provided some data. In the Middle East, movements by migrant juveniles were recorded in open/dry areas, mainly in barren or sparsely vegetated habitats (31.7%), grasslands (26.4%), closed shrublands (10.4%), wooded savannas (10.1%), and open shrublands (9.1%) (102 Gavashelishvili , A., M. McGrady, M. Ghasabian, and K. L. Bildstein (2012). Movements and habitat use by immature Cinereous Vultures (Aegypius monachus) from the Caucasus. Bird Study 59(4):449-462. Close ). The Cinereous Vulture has been observed in the Mesopotamian Marshes of southern Iraq (178 Al-Sheikhly, O. F., and A. J. Al-Azawi (2019). The diurnal birds of prey (raptors) in the Mesopotamian marshes of southern Iraq with notes on their conservation status. Bulletin of the Iraq Natural History Museum 15(4):381–402. Close ) and a juvenile spent the winter in Sudan near the Nile River, often close to rural villages and agricultural fields (106 Efrat, R., and O. Hatzofe (2021). First evidence of a migration route from Eurasia to East Africa of the Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus). Journal of Raptor Research 55(3):451–454. Close ).

In summer, the species is observed in the steppes of western Siberia, with observations in forest steppes further north (1 Glutz von Blotzheim, N., K. M. Bauer, and E. Bezzel (1971). Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas. Band 4. Falconiformes. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Close ). In Pakistan and India, wintering birds occur in plains and desert areas (75 Grimmett, R., T. Roberts, and T. Inskipp (2008). Birds of Pakistan. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 179 Khatri, P. C. (2013). The distribution and status of Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) at Jorbeer, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India: a study of Near Threatened Monk Vulture. Research Journal of Animal, Veterinary and Fishery Sciences 1(1):17–21. Close ). In Uttar Pradesh (northern India), wintering vultures are mostly observed in the Terai ecozone, characterised by tropical moist deciduous forest and a combination of lower temperature and higher precipitation compared to the rest of the state; other areas used include Vindhyan-Bundelkhand, Gangetic and semi-arid ecozones (180 Jha, R., A. Kanaujia, and K. K. Jha (2022). Wintering habitat modelling for conservation of Eurasian vultures in northern India. Nova Geodesia 2(1):22. Close ). In southern Kazakhstan, the species has been observed in winter in arid and semi-arid steppe, low-elevation ecosystems (120‒375 m above sea level), with level-ground grassland and Artemisia shrubs, rocky outcrops, low hills, Saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron) forests, and some wetlands (110 Martin, T. E., J. Dubos, T. Rivière, M. Loubon, J. Fleureau, A. Martineau, M. Guillemin, and V. Nivet-Mazerolles (2018). Bird records from arid and semi-arid areas in southern Kazakhstan, 2009–2017. Sandgrouse 40(1):53–74. Close ).

In Spain, wintering Cinereous Vultures have been observed in Doñana National Park, a region of marshland, scrub, pastures, pine forest, and sandy areas (176 Valverde, J. A. (1966). Sobre Buitres Negros en Andalucía. Ardeola 12(1):101–115. Close ).

Roost Sites

In Pakistan, the species is observed roosting in flocks on cliff escarpments (75 Grimmett, R., T. Roberts, and T. Inskipp (2008). Birds of Pakistan. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Juveniles on autumn migration across the Middle East prefer to roost at higher-elevation sites with steeper slopes and woodland (101 Yamaç, E., and C. C. Bilgin (2012). Post-fledging movements of Cinereous Vultures Aegypius monachus in Turkey revealed by GPS telemetry. Ardea 100(2):149–156. Close ). During the winter in Sudan, a Cinereous Vulture roosted mainly at elevated sites in desert (106 Efrat, R., and O. Hatzofe (2021). First evidence of a migration route from Eurasia to East Africa of the Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus). Journal of Raptor Research 55(3):451–454. Close ). In Doñana National Park, roosts were on cork oaks together with Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus) (176 Valverde, J. A. (1966). Sobre Buitres Negros en Andalucía. Ardeola 12(1):101–115. Close ).

After fledging, four Cinereous Vultures from Sierra de San Pedro (Cáceres, Spain), used a mean number of 42.2 roosts ± 20.7 SD (range 28‒73 roosts) over 386.7 days ± 135.7 SD (range 239‒502 days); mean distance between roosts and the natal nest was 38.26 km ± 65.17 SD (range 0.18‒347.21 km, n = 170) (162 Costillo, E. (2005). Biología y conservación de las poblaciones de buitre negro Aegypius monachus en Extremadura. Ph.D. thesis, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain. Close ).