Rüppell´s Vulture

Gyps rueppellii

Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Presence in the Strait: Occasional
IUCN (global): CR · Critically endangered
In Spanish: Buitre moteado

48% of its open observations in the area are from September.

Photograph: Julien Renoult, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 101 cm
Wingspan: 241 cm
Weight: 7,570 g

Presence in the Strait

Occasional. First seen on 25.08.97, an immature bird in the municipality of Tarifa. Since then, they have been seen every year, usually between August and December, due to greater observer coverage during migration studies (MIGRES). 1997 was a good year with three immature birds and 1998 with two sub-adults and three immatures. There is also a spring record of a bird joining the Griffon Vulture colony at “Tajo de Sancho” (Alcalá de los Gazules) on 18.03.00.

Identification

Like the Griffon Vulture but darker and densely scaled with cream on upperwing-coverts and lower back. In flight, shorter wings with white mottled wing-bars bellow. It breeds in Central Africa, possibly accompanying Griffon Vultures that cross the Strait.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

48 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 13 October 2000
Latest record: 3 May 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: Outside the Red List (not assessed)
Global Red List (IUCN): CR · Critically endangered

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Same genus in the Strait

Griffon Vulture95–105 cm · Resident · overlapping size
White-backed Vulture78–98 cm · Vagrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
GBIF taxon key: 2480384

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Julien Renoult, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Rüppell´s Vulture

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Gallery