Cinereous vulture, a rare old world vulture, was spotted roaming the sky over Jordan's eastern Al-Azarq Wetlands Reserve. This is the first time this large raptorial bird is sighted over this part of the Kingdom.

The cinereous vulture, also known as the black vulture, monk vulture, or Eurasian black vulture, is one of the two largest vultures in the world and migrates in limited numbers, said Director of the Al-Azarq Wetlands Reserve, Hazim Khriesha.

Although sighted several times before in Jordanian skies, this is the first time this cinereous vulture is seen flying over the eastern wetland region, according to the Director of the Bird Project Management Unit at the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, Tariq Qana'ir.

This vulture is a bird of hilly, mountainous areas, especially favoring dry semi-open habitats such as meadows at high altitudes over much of the range. Nesting usually occurs near the tree line in the mountains. They are always associated with undisturbed, remote areas with limited human disturbance.

Noteworthy, more than 300 bird species migrate through Jordan between Europe and Africa and vice versa.
 

Petra