The white-headed vulture (Gyps fulvus HABLIZL) belongs to the species of birds of prey, the hawk family. The bird was mentioned as early as the ancient times. It was given some godlike attributes by the ancient people. By its ability to adapt, the bird has survived through millenniums as a species, but it belongs to an endangered species today and its survival is questionable. The reasons are many: besides the global pollution of the environment and poisoned wolf traps, or organized hunting grounds that are daily increasing in number, there is also a decrease in the breeding of sheep and other animals in open spaces. In order to survive in the new conditions of a shortage of food (they, namely, feed on carrion of dead animals), they have developed a more flexible organization of the survival of their community. As the perishing of animals does not follow in a regular order, the birds roam their territory looking for food, so that one bird is often distanced from the other approximately one kilometre. The vultures have acute vision, and while looking for food they can spot another vulture at the distance of 10 kilometres. When one of them spots a carrion it starts wheeling and circling above it, which is a clear sign for the other vultures to join it. In those years when there is not enough food, these birds do not nest and do not lay eggs. One of the four species of vultures still live in Europe. Vultures have become extinct in many countries, but there are still some felt in Spain and Greece, in Croatia in their colonies on the island Cres and the islands in the Kvarner gulf, where there is an attempt in progress to increase their population by artificially bred birds. Unfortunately, the birds have become extinct in their three habitats in Herzegovina, at the river source of the Buna in Blagaj, the Neretva canion near Žitomislić and the mountain Hrgud near Stolac, all owing to some careless ecological incidents. The most endangered birds are the young vultures who, until they reach their sexual maturity, roam the rugged rocks from Austria In the north to Africa in the south, and only a small number will return to their original home colony.
Their wingspread is three metres, the length around 1 metre, and they weigh 8 kilos. The head, neck and collar are white, the tail short. With younger birds the collar remains brown. As they do not catch their prey, claws are blunt and not developed, whereas their beak is sharp and bent, adapted for tearing up the carrion. They nest on the high rocks, and lay only one egg, with both the male and the female bird alternately sitting on it for 52 days. The young bird stays in the nest for 120 days after which it undertakes its first flight, often with lethal consequences for the young bird.
Being birds of great weight, they soar into the air by using gusts of wind breaking against the sheer rock, or when there is no wind the circulation of air is developed by the unequal warming up. In this way they rise to the height of several kilometres, and their wingspread allows them to fly without using any energy. In this way they can be active for 7 hours daily and are able to cover an area in the radius of some 300 kilometres.
