Slender-billed Vulture

Slender-billed Vulture :: Gyps tenuirostris

Bad at Goodbyes :: Episode 069

On today’s show we learn about the Slender-billed Vulture, a critically endangered avian raptor, a bird of prey, native to South and Southeast Asia, specifically Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. Its scientific name is Gyps tenuirostris and it was first described in 1844.

1. (00:05) Intro
2. (02:05) Species Information
3. (27:51) Citations
4. (29:43) Music
5. (37:03) Pledge

For more information about Slender-billed Vulture conservation please see Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction at https://save-vultures.org .

Research for today’s show was compiled from:

1. BirdLife International. 2021. Gyps tenuirostris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T22729460A204781113. – https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22729460A204781113.en
2. BirdLife International (2021). Species factsheet: Slender-billed Vulture Gyps tenuirostris. – https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/slender-billed-vulture-gyps-tenuirostris 25/02/2026
3. del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and J. S. Marks (2020). Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.– https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.slbvul1.01
4. Hille, Sabine M., Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt, Maarten Bleeker, and Nigel J. Collar. “Foraging Behaviour at Carcasses in an Asian Vulture Assemblage: Towards a Good Restaurant Guide.” Bird Conservation International 26, no. 3 (2016): 263–72. – https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270915000349
5. Jackson, A. L., Ruxton, G. D., & Houston, D. C. (2008). The effect of social facilitation on foraging success in vultures: a modelling study. Biology letters, 4(3), 311–313. – https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0038
6. Mundy, P. J., 2022. Measurements and shape of the Slender-billed Vulture Gyps tenuirostris. Indian BIRDS 18 (3): 82–85. – https://indianbirds.in/vol-18-no-3/
7. The Peregrine Fund. n.d. “Slender-billed Vulture.” Explore Raptors. – https://peregrinefund.org/explore-raptors-species/vultures/slender-billed-vulture
8. Prakash, Vibhu, Hemant Bajpai, Soumya S. Chakraborty, Manan Singh Mahadev, John W. Mallord, Nikita Prakash, Sachin P. Ranade, Rohan N. Shringarpure, Christopher G. R. Bowden, and Rhys E. Green. “Recent Trends in Populations of Critically Endangered Gyps Vultures in India.” Bird Conservation International 34 (2024): e1. – https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270923000394
9. Ranade, Sachin P. 2025. “Time Activity Budget of White-Rumped Vulture and Slender-Billed Vulture During Breeding in Captivity.” bioRxiv. – https://doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.09.693217
10. Sound Recording by Phil Gregory. 2024. Xeno-Canto. XC899521 – xeno-canto.org/899521
11. Virani, M., P.C. Benson, M. Gilbert, and S. Thomsett. 2004. A survey of the reproductive activities at some Gyps vulture nests in Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Ranthambhore National Parks, India, in the 2002/2003 breeding season. Pages 263-268 in R.D. Chancellor and B.-U. Meyburg (Eds.) Raptors Worldwide. World Working Group on Birds of Prey and Owls, Berlin and MME/BirdLife Hungary, Budapest. – https: