Iran’s bearded vulture stains itself blood red

Iran’s thousands of people have already died in the protests. The brutal rule of the bearded men gets more and more bloody.

I guess it is somewhat fitting that in Iranian tradition the bearded vulture is an important bird. The bearded vulture is known for smearing its feathers with a blood-like liquid. The vulture doesn’t care that the bodies are piling up. It lives on them.

Of course, comparing a bird to a human is not fair to a bearded vulture (A bearded eagle), which is actually a handsome animal. A bearded couple lives in Korkeasaari as well.

Vultures are usually bald, as they stick their heads into the entrails of the carcasses. In that rush, the money would get tangled up.

Instead, the bearded vulture has a handsome feather cover on its head and a tassel resembling a beard on its beak. The bearded vulture eats neatly and only eats bones from carrion. It lifts the larger bones high into the air and drops them against the stones, so that the nutritious bone marrow is exposed.

Strong liquids are needed to melt bones. The bearded vulture’s stomach acid is almost as strong as battery acid, only one in pH.

Although the bearded vulture doesn’t get messy while eating, it does have a habit of staining itself red. It bathes in water or mud with a lot of iron oxide. The rust-red color sticks to the breast and makes the bird blush handsomely. In addition, its eyes are surrounded by a strong red ring.

It is not known why the bird bathes in rust. Perhaps the iron oxide somehow repels bacteria, or perhaps the red color is a message to other birds.

in Iran the bearded vulture parallels Persian mythology homa-to the bird named Homa is a heavenly bird, a symbol of good luck. It also appears in the logo of Iran’s national airline. Although the homa is a mythical creature, the bearded vulture, which is a noble-looking animal, has been seen as its terrestrial counterpart.

In fairy tales, homa is also always born again from the ashes, like the phoenix bird in fairy tales.

I hope Iran will also get a new start.