The bearded vulture is known by that name because adults have dark bristles beneath the bill.
It is also called the lammergeier and is one of the most distinctive vultures of Africa, Europe, and Asia. Adults have narrow wings, a long diamond-shaped tail, and plumage that can appear orange or rusty on the breast because birds deliberately bathe in mineral-rich soil.
The species is famous for its unusual diet. Bones make up much of its food, and it can swallow smaller bones whole. Large bones are carried into the air and dropped onto rocky slopes, producing fragments that the bird can eat. This behavior gives the vulture a specialized ecological role in consuming the remains left by other scavengers.
The bristles are not a beard in the mammalian sense. They are stiff feathers around the face. The bird is also not the same species as the Egyptian vulture, whose yellow face and contrasting black-and-white wings create a very different appearance.