Himalayan Vulture

Gyps himalayensis (Hume, 1869)

		adult subadult
2013-04-29 Kuraiskaya steppe. Republic of Altai. 2015-05-08 Bolshoi Yaloman, Altai Republic.	© Alexei Ebel © Sergey Pisarevskiy

Distribution

There are confirmed records from Altai. Sightings from other mountain regions of Western and Middle Siberia are possible.

Biology

Rare resident. Inhabits the mountains on altitudes 1700-3100 m. In Kazakhsian, the known colonies contain from 3-5 pairs and set on the big rocks. Nests are placed in recesses at 100-400 m above the ground; nests are built from dry twigs and are lined with grass and hair, and used some years in succession. In April and early May the nests were with one egg each. Nestlings hatched in end-May; in mid-July the juveniles were about same as adult in size.

References

В.К.Рябицев. "Птицы Сибири". Москва-Екатеринбург, Изд-во "Кабинетный ученый", 2014.