Gyps fulvus

The Griffon vulture is the king of the skies over the Soča Valley. With wingspan up to 2.8 meters, a body nearly 1 meter long, and weighing between 6 and 11 kg, this pale-headed raptor rides warm updrafts with grace. A member of the Accipitridae family, it feeds on carrion, playing a vital yet often misunderstood role in mountain ecosystems. Able to spot carcasses from kilometers away, vultures help keep the landscape clear of decaying animals. Their presence signals a healthy ecosystem—one still wild enough to support the natural cycle of death and renewal.
 
The vultures seen in the Soča Valley are visitors. They nest in colonies on remote cliffs in the Italian Carnian Alps or on Croatia’s Cres Island, laying one egg per year and showing strong fidelity to mates and nest sites. Built for endurance with hollow bones and a massive wingspan they can glide for hours without flapping, covering up to 150 km in a day. Though they may seem eerie from a distance, with bald heads and suspicious posture, up close their intelligent eyes and feathered collar suggest a nobility earned over millennia of silent, patient watchfulness.

As paragliders know, the only way to see a Griffon vulture up close is to fly beside one in a thermal along the ridges of the Soča Valley. Even spotting one flying overhead is a special experience–a reminder that in the Julian Alps, the primitive rules of the wild still apply.
 
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Beloglavi jastreb je kralj neba nad dolino Soče. Z razponom kril do 2,8 metra, dolžino telesa skoraj 1 meter in težo med 6 in 11 kg ta dolgovratež elegantno jadra na toplih vzpenjajočih se vetrovih. Hrani se s poginulimi živalmi, njegova ekološka vloga pa je silno pomembna in slabo razumljena. Mrtvo žival lahko opazijo z razdalje več kilometrov in igrajo nepogrešljivo vlogo pri odstranjevanju trupel; večinoma divjih in domačih kopitarjev. Njihova prisotnost nakazuje na zdrav in funkcionalen ekosistem.
 
Jastrebi, ki jih vidimo v dolini Soče, so v bistvu turisti. Gnezdijo v kolonijah na oddaljenih stenah italijanskih Karnijskih Alp in hrvaškega otoka Cres, kjer pari vsako leto izležejo po eno jajce in kažejo zvestobo tako partnerjem kot gnezdiščem. Brez enega samega zamaha s krili lahko jadrajo ure in ure ter v enem dnevu preletijo do 150 kilometrov. Čeprav se od daleč, s svojimi plešastimi glavami in sumničavo držo, morda zdijo srhljivi, pa od blizu njihove inteligentne oči in pernata ovratnica nakazujejo na plemenitost.
 
Edini način, da enega izmed njih vidite od blizu, kot to dobro vedo piloti jadralnih padal, je vrtenje termičnega stebra vzdolž grebenov nad dolino Soče. Toda že opazovanje jastreba s tal je posebno doživetje in opomnik, da v Julijskih Alpah še vedno veljajo prvobitna pravila divjine.