Europe's largest bird of prey spotted in Netherlands skies

Bird watchers in Rotterdam and Den Bosch reported multiple sightings of the extremely rare bearded vulture, Waarneming.nl announced on Monday. With a wingspan of up to 2.8 meters, the bearded vulture is the largest bird of prey in Europe, ANP reports.

The bearded vulture does not naturally occur in the Netherlands. Nature reservation agency Natuurmonumenten expects that the bird will soon leave our country. Bearded vultures mainly feed on carcasses of large animals, something that's hard to find in the Netherlands.

According to Natuurmonumenten, the bird spotted in the Netherlands skies is about two years old and lost. The natural habitat for bearded vultures is in southern Europe and Central Asia.