Bearded vulture in the Calfeisental

At the beginning of the 20th century, the bearded vulture was exterminated in the Alpine region when the last bearded vulture was shot in Switzerland 120 years ago. Now he is to settle again in the Northern Alps.

Why in the Calfeisental?
According to the team of experts from the Pro Bearded Vulture Foundation, the Calfeisental, or more precisely the "Federal Grey Horns Banned Area", offers the best living conditions for bearded vultures with its intact wildlife populations and good thermal conditions. There has also been a great deal of international support for the release into the wild in the Swiss Northern Alps.

Between 2010 and 2017, a total of 12 bearded vultures were released into the wild in the Calfeisental. Since they are equipped with small transmitters, the path of the animals can be traced. In the first years of life, bearded vultures fly (far) away from their place of birth or release. As adults, they like to come back, especially when food is scarce elsewhere.

For example, the bearded vulture named "Sardona", which was released into the wild in 2010, was sighted again in the Calfeisen Valley in 2017.

Characteristics of the Bearded Vulture:

Adult Bearded Vultures weigh 5-7 kg and have a wingspan of just under 3 meters. Males and females cannot be distinguished externally. The young hatch after about 55 days of incubation and fledge at the age of 3.5-4 months. They become sexually mature after 5 to 7 years.

The red color of the bearded vulture is actually make-up: the feathers are white, but the birds dye them rusty red in iron-rich puddles.

A bearded vulture feeds on bone for 80% and carrion for the rest. It swallows pieces of bone up to 18 cm long, larger ones it smashes onto the rock from a flight height of 60 meters and then eats the splinters. It eats 250-400 g of bone every day. Its territory is up to 400 square kilometres (20x20 km) in size; in winter it flies even further.

Here's how to spot a bearded vulture:

Keep an eye on the sky during a walk around Vättis or on a hike through the beautiful Calfeisen Valley. Maybe you're lucky. Basically, the Bearded Vulture stays in areas above the tree line on and west of Vätti's village.

If you see a Bearded Vulture, the Pro Bearded Vulture Foundation is looking forward to hearing from you via their web form

Tip:

The children's book "De Sardona macht es Fäscht" is about the bearded vulture Sardona and explains the formation of the Alps in a vivid and child-friendly way.