Description:

Huge and almost all dark, with heavy bill, downy crown and large neck-ruff. Adult blackish brown with paler brown ruff; may show paler band across greater underwing-coverts, but underwing darker and more uniform than on vulture species. Juvenile blacker and more uniform than adult.

Distribution:

Rare passage migrant through the central and western parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, prefering lower altitudes. Usually occurs in forest areas and scrubs in hills and mountains, semi-arid alpine meadows, steppe and upland grasslands, from 300m to 3800m.

Behavior:

Generally dominant other scavengers at carcasses; heavy bill capable of tearing through muscles, tendons and skin. Reliant on good numbers of livestock for successful nesting. Feeds on carrion, from medium-sized to large carcasses; only rarely takes live prey, e.g. lizards, snakes and tortoises, and some insects.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Cinereous Vulture in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Cinereous Vulture

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.