Eagles are the "kings" soaring in the sky, they have no natural enemies, and they stand at the top of the food chain. The eagle's position in the sky is like that of a lion or a tiger on land. Although eagles are not carnivores, they are mostly pure carnivores. The definition of a carnivore is simply a meat-eating animal, but among the members of the eagle family, there is one who does not eat meat, only bones. It's the Beard Vulture.
<h1>Eagles</h1>
Many people think that eagles are eagles, but in fact, this statement is more general. Because there are 10 subfamily, 63 genera, and 236 different animals in the eagle family, the eagle we often say is just one of the 10 subfamilies - the eagle subfamily.
In the division of eagles, the basic principle of dividing body size and morphology is followed, such as small eagles are often called harriers and kites, while medium-sized eagles are usually called eagles and eagles, and large eagles are often called eagles, vultures and so on.
Regardless of size, all eagles are carnivores, and they are found all over the world. Usually, eagles feed on smaller rodents, hares, snakes and other smaller animals, and some large eagles will also hunt medium-sized ungulates, such as vultures and golden eagles.
<h1>The "alternative" in the eagle family</h1>
There are 10 different subfamilies under the eagle family, most of which have sharp claws and beaks, so most eagles have their own ability to hunt, even the 30 cm sparrowhawk has the ability to kill mice, hares and snakes. However, under the eagle family, there is a more "alternative" subfamily - the vulture subfamily.
When it comes to the vulture subfamily, the first thing that many friends think of should be the vulture. The vulture is a large bird of prey, and the adult vulture averages about 1.1 meters in length, which is also a large animal in the entire eagle family. But the strange thing is that such a behemoth is actually an animal that feeds on carrion meat. In fact, the reason why the vulture eats carrion has a lot to do with the degradation of its claws, because most eagles rely on sharp claws to catch prey on land, while the relatively short claws of the vulture are not suitable for grabbing prey. So, over a long period of evolution, vultures tended to feed on carrion, which had less competitive relationships.
There are 15 different animals in 8 genera and 15 different species under the subfamily Vulture, of which 14 species are scavengers, but one can be said to be the "alternative" of the "alternative" in the eagle family. It does not eat fresh meat, nor does it eat carrion, but bones.
<h1>"Alternative" in the subfamily Vulture</h1>
As we said above, there are 15 different species of animals in the subfamily Vulture, which are:
Palm vulture (Gypohierax angolensis), Gypaetus barbatus, Neophron percnopterus, crowned vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus), African white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus), white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), long-beaked vulture (Gyps indicus), black and white vulture ( rueppellii), fulvus, South African vulture (Gyps coprotheres), Vulture (Aegypius monachus), Aegypius tracheliotus, White-headed Vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis), Black Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus).
From the above classification, the subspecies classification of members of the vulture subfamily also tends to be regionalized and morphological. (Note: The above vultures are bald)
Among all the members of the vulture subfamily, there is a species of vulture that not only does not hunt itself, but does not even eat rotten meat, but only eats bones, and it is the bearded vulture (bearded vulture).
The bearded vulture is a bird of prey that lives in Europe and northwestern Asia, especially in the alpine regions of Europe. But it is this relatively wide distribution and large size that make humans regard it as the "culprit" of hunting domestic animals. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, Europeans hunted and killed the bearded vultures in large numbers, resulting in a sharp decrease in the number of bearded vultures. In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region of China, the bearded vulture is revered as a kind of eagle, so there is no indiscriminate killing.
▲ Bearded vulture
<h1>Misunderstood bearded vultures</h1>
From the outside, the bearded vulture is not hairless like the vulture, which is the main reason why it is misunderstood. In fact, the vultures look at them "silly" even when they encounter mammalic carcasses, and as for hunting, they are even rarer. The main food of the bearded vulture is the bones of animals, and when it finds animal carcasses, it locks the area several times, and when the animal carcasses are eaten by some scavengers, its meal comes.
At this time, the bearded vulture will grab a leg bone and fly high into the air, and then put it down on the mountain, and the bone will fall heavily on the rock, exposing the bone marrow, and the bearded vulture will fall near the broken bone, and even the bone will be swallowed with bone marrow. This is the main food of the bearded vultures. According to research studies, 90% of the food of the bearded vulture is the bone marrow in the bones.
According to the dissection of the vulture, the inner wall of the esophagus of the vulture is very rough, which is the main reason why it swallows the bone without being scratched.
▲ Bearded vulture clutching broken bones
Human beings have always been accustomed to seeing the surface of things, and it is this one-sided view that makes many fierce-looking animals misunderstood by humans and killed. The Bearded Vulture is a good example. But in reality, it doesn't even grab carrion from other animals. Therefore, it can only be said that the bearded vulture who was killed as a bird of prey that endangered domestic animals was too aggrieved.