Appearance:

Europe's biggest raptor. All dark vulture with short, wedge-shaped tail and very long and broad wings. Legs pale, and usually readily visible. May resemble White-tailed Eagle or Greater Spotted Eagle at distance, but note short neck, less protruding head, even longer and broader wings, and shorter tail. Under wing-coverts darker than flight-feathers. Trailing edge of wing fairly straight compared to S-shaped edge in Griffon Vulture, making the overall wing-shape more squarish. This is most obvious when soaring on stretched wings. Soars with wings leveled, not raised, often with hand lowered. Frequently raises tail just before landing.

Sound:

Voice little used but varied. Grunts,croaking, mewing, hissing etc. heard when breeding or feeding at carcasses.

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

Appearance:

Large and robust warbler with plain plumage, except for the characteristic cap (black in males, rufous in females and juveniles). Upperparts greyish brown and underparts pale grey. Vent white. No white in tail, as opposed to all other black-capped Sylvias in the region. Easily confused with Garden Warbler if the cap is not seen.

Sound:

Song pleasing, varied and loud. Sometimes very similar to Garden Warbler. A typical phrase starts with soft, staccato chattering and mimicry, which after a few seconds changes to a much louder, pure and resonant stream of notes for about 3-5 seconds. No fixed motif, but may end phrases with recurring notes. Often deviates from the characteristic type of song, and identification from song alone may be impossible. May sing first part of song for extended periods without ever reaching the characteristic ending. Alarm call a hard "check", similar to Lesser White-throat. Sometimes with an additional hoarse and nasal "cherrrr".

Alarm call, song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC