footage of a Griffon Vulture

This footage of a Griffon Vulture demonstrating its extraordinary wingspan as it was being released back into the wild is a wonder to behold 😳🦅

With an 8-foot wingspan, the Griffon Vulture is the highest-flying bird in the bird kingdom at 37,000 feet — That’s the equivalent to about 120 football fields. These birds will fly for incredible distances (up to 90 miles) in order to scavenge for food, or nesting materials.

The adaptation that allows this species to fly so high is an alteration of one of its proteins — which allows the bird to fly efficiently despite lower pressure and available oxygen.