On the 26th July Francesco Panuello saw and photographed 6 griffon vultures flying above a valley in the Alpes de Haute Provence (04). Francesco soon noticed that one of the vultures had its tongue protruding through its throat, hanging awkwardly below its beak (see photos).
What is most remarkable is that others had already reported this type of “injury”. Camina & Guerrero had already observed one griffon (a sub adult) with an identical condition in 2010 in the Spanish Pyrenees – see paper below, and they have also uncovered another older record that probably refers to the same situation. Interestingly, they observed that the tongue moved forward and backward while the bird was eating! Could this be the same bird?
(Photos Francesco Panuello)
Eurasian Griffon with tongue protruding – Camina & Guerrero Vulture News 2013 Camiña 2013 & Guerrero An Eurasian Grif Adobe Acrobat Document 152.1 KB Download
