Birds in Simien Mountains
Well over fifty species of birds have been positively identified in the Semien Mountains National Park. This includes an unusually large number of birds of prey and carrion-eaters. One of the most spectacular of these is the Lammergeyer, or Bearded Vulture. This magnificent bird with its three-meter wing spread is unusually common in the Semien, though it is found also in other parts of Africa, Asia and Europe. Its diet makes it one of nature’s rare phenomena: it eats bones and bone marrow. When an animal dies, the lammergeyer waits until the bones have been picked clean by other scavengers, and then it eats the smaller bones. The bigger bones it carries away. To a flat, rocky spot over which it sails like a bomber and drops the bone from a height sufficient to shatter it to bits. When the bone is broken to manageable size, the lammergeyer eats the pieces. Lammergeyers have been known to fly as high as 25,000 feet in the Himalayas, and they have been clocked at 79.5 miles per hour flying speed.
The Augur Buzzard is another species commonly seen in the national park. It occurs in several color variations. Adults are characterized by dark gray or almost black upper parts and a bright chestnut-colored tail. The underside may be completely white, white with a black throat and upper breast, or entirely black. The latter form - the melanistic phase - is somewhat more common in the Semien than elsewhere. Another interesting bird is the Egyptian Vulture, which has joined man, the chimpanzee, the sea otter and a few others in an exclusive clique of creatures who use tools. Eggs form a part of the diet of the Egyptian vulture. If the egg is large and difficult to crack, the vulture picks up a stone with its beak and throws it at the egg until the shell cracks. Egyptian Vultures have been seen opening ostrich eggs in this fashion.
Other large birds which may be seen include the Ruppells Griffon Vulture, the Hooded Vulture, and the Lappet-Faced Vulture. Of the species endemic to Ethiopia, the most readily observed are the Thick-Billed Raven, the Wattled Ibis, and the White-Collared Pigeon.
The Thick-Billed Raven is unmistakable. It is one of the largest of the ravens and its bill seems to be aspiring to the proportions of a toucans beak. This Raven has a deep, wheezing croak, like a frog with asthma. It often frequents campsites, looking for garbage. It may be joined there by some related birds, the Fan-Tailed Ravens, Cape Rooks and Pied Crows.