Photo: Kees
Bakker
Thumbnail on previous
page: EBN Italia
| Greek Name: |
ho nertos [German: Schmutzgeier]. Identification pretty certain, not least because the Egyptian word for vulture is nr-t. Nevertheless, D'Arcy Thompson opts for the equally common Griffin Vulture (Gyps fulvus).[1] | |
| Description: |
Smallest and most common European vulture, dingy white plumage with black flight feathers. L 55-68 cm, W 150-170cm. | |
| Habitat: |
Lives mostly in mountainous terrain, nowadays also around garbage dumps. Builds its nests in rocky crevices or small caves [2]. | |
|
Behaviour: |
Likes
to circle high in the air, but is able to fly actively over long distances
during its annual migration to Africa. Favorite resting places are crags;
its call is rarely heard. Feeds mostly on carrion, but also on deserted ostrich eggs which it cracks open by dropping rocks on it. Due to their small size, Egyptian vultures normally have to be content with the leftovers from a carcass. Accordingly, their small beak is ideally fitted for picking small bits of left-over meat from bones [3]. |
|
|
Ancient Associations: |
Large numbers of vultures
followed armies on the march. Unless a truce was made to bury the dead,
the corpses of fallen soldiers often became food for dogs and vultures
(Homer, passim). Because of their contact with carrion, vultures
were known for their bad smell. In myth, vultures feed on the liver
of eternally punished sinners like Prometheus and Tityos. |
|
| Sources: |
[1] D'Arcy
W. Thompson, A Glossary of Greek Birds, London 1936 (repr. Hildesheim,
1966), pp. 205. |
|
| More Links: |
http://www.vultures.homestead.com/Egyptian.html |
|
, pronounced "ah",
is the first letter of the Egyptian alphabet.