{"id":360986,"date":"2026-04-17T16:26:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T10:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=360986"},"modified":"2026-04-17T16:26:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T10:56:24","slug":"indian-vulture-gyps-indicus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indian-vulture-gyps-indicus\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>News<\/strong>: Last year, a rescued long-billed vulture was released back into its natural habitat in Nashik to protect the population of the species.<\/p>\n<h2>About Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus)<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_360998\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-360998\" style=\"width: 314px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-360998\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Source-WII-1.jpg?resize=314%2C415&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus)\" width=\"314\" height=\"415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Source-WII-1.jpg?resize=227%2C300&amp;ssl=1 227w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Source-WII-1.jpg?w=572&amp;ssl=1 572w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 314px) 100vw, 314px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-360998\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; WII<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>The\u00a0<b>Indian vulture<\/b>\u00a0or\u00a0<b>long-billed vulture<\/b> is a <strong>native bird<\/strong> of the <strong>Indian subcontinent.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Family:<\/strong> They are <strong>Old World vulture<\/strong> belonging to the family of <strong>Accipitridae<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Scientific name:<\/strong> Their scientific name is <b>Gyps indicus<\/b><i><b>.<\/b><\/i><\/li>\n<li><strong>Habitat:<\/strong> It lives in a range of habitats, from <strong>grasslands and shrublands to farmlands and urban areas.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Distribution:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In India, they are<strong> found in central, south and peninsular India. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>They have also been recorded<strong> in south-east Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Characteristics<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Size: <\/strong>They are\u00a0<strong>bulky and medium in size<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Its <strong>body and covert feathers<\/strong>\u00a0are <strong>pale brown<\/strong> with <strong>darker<\/strong>\u00a0flight feathers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Weight: <\/strong>They weighs<strong> around 5.5\u20136.3 kg.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>They have<strong> white thighs with scattered white fluff and broad wings<\/strong> with short tail feathers.<\/li>\n<li><sup id=\"cite_ref-11\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>They have a<strong> small, bare, dark-brown head with a long featherless neck<\/strong>, dark eyes and a long yellowish beak\u00a0with a pale green-yellow\u00a0cere.<sup id=\"cite_ref-PF_8-2\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/li>\n<li>Their <strong>bald heads<\/strong> allow them to <strong>maintain body temperature<\/strong> in response to the environment.\n<ul>\n<li>When it is <strong>cold<\/strong>, they tuck their necks in closer to their bodies to keep them warm, and when it is <strong>hot<\/strong>, they extend their necks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><sup id=\"cite_ref-PF_8-3\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>They have<strong> very few feathers on their heads,<\/strong> which helps them to keep their heads clean while feeding on carcasses.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Behaviour:<\/strong> They <strong>are not migratory<\/strong> but travel hundreds of miles in a day, scavenging for food.<\/li>\n<li>They are <strong>powerful flyers<\/strong> and<strong> soar on thermal\u00a0convection currents. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Speed:<\/strong> They <strong>reach speeds of 35 km\/h (22 mph)<\/strong> when gliding and <strong>can fly for six to seven hours <\/strong>continuously<strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Nesting:<\/strong> They nest mainly on <strong>cliffs<\/strong> and are usually found in small flocks, sometimes with other vulture species.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Diet: <\/strong>They are<strong> scavenging bird <\/strong>and<strong>\u00a0 feed mostly from carcasses of dead animals.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Lifespan<\/strong>: They have a <strong>lifespan of 40 to 45 years<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ecological role:<\/strong> They are <strong>keystone<\/strong> species in its habitats.\n<ul>\n<li>As an scavenger, they play an important part in <strong>cleaning up rotting meat<\/strong> that could spread disease.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Conservation efforts: <span style=\"color: #333333;\">Captive-breeding programmes<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #333333;\"> for<\/span> the Indian vulture were started to help recover its numbers.\n<ul>\n<li>Notable breeding centers include the <strong>Pinjore Vulture Breeding Centre in Haryana, Rajabhatkhawa Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre in West Bengal, etc.,<\/strong> where vultures are raised in captivity and subsequently released into natural habitats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Threats<\/strong>: They have\u00a0 97-99% population decline due to poisoning caused by the veterinary drug diclofenac. Other threats are:\n<ul>\n<li>Habitat degradation and reduced food supply<\/li>\n<li>Environmental toxins<\/li>\n<li>Anthropogenic activities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Conservation status:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>IUCN Status:<\/strong> They are classified as <strong>critically endangered<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: <\/strong>They are classified under<strong> Schedule I.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: Last year, a rescued long-billed vulture was released back into its natural habitat in Nashik to protect the population of the species. About Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus) The\u00a0Indian vulture\u00a0or\u00a0long-billed vulture is a native bird of the Indian subcontinent. Family: They are Old World vulture belonging to the family of Accipitridae. Scientific name: Their scientific&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/indian-vulture-gyps-indicus\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,12039,11834],"tags":[11972,12172],"class_list":["post-360986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-knolls","category-species-in-news","tag-9-pm-daily-factly","tag-mongabay","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}