Egyptian Vulture

Yes, and it is one of the best-documented cases of tool use in a bird. An Egyptian vulture that finds an ostrich egg, which is far too thick-shelled to break with a peck or by dropping it as some birds do with smaller eggs, will instead pick up a stone in its beak, stand over the egg, and throw the stone down onto it with a sharp downward flick of the head and neck, repeating this and sometimes fetching new stones until the shell cracks and it can eat the contents. The behaviour was first described scientifically in the 1960s. The birds also use twigs to gather and roll up wool for nest lining, a second, separate form of tool use.

No. Studies of both wild and captive Egyptian vultures show that young birds do not throw stones instinctively; they acquire the skill by watching experienced adults do it and then practising, often clumsily at first, on eggs and egg-shaped objects. Hand-reared vultures kept away from models frequently never learn it at all. This makes egg-smashing a learned, socially transmitted behaviour, sometimes described as a simple form of animal culture, and it varies in how common it is between regions depending on how often ostrich eggs are available.

The yellow, orange, and sometimes reddish colour of the bird's bare facial skin comes from carotenoid pigments, which animals cannot make themselves and must get from their food. Egyptian vultures obtain them by deliberately eating the fresh droppings of cattle, sheep, goats, and other grazing animals, a habit called coprophagy. Research has shown that the intensity of the facial colour reflects a bird's health and social status, with dominant, well-nourished birds having the brightest faces, so the dung-eating is effectively a way of advertising quality. The pale plumage may also stay cleaner-looking partly because of preen-gland secretions.

Its global population has fallen by around half or more in three generations, and it was uplisted to Endangered in 2007. Poisoning is the biggest single threat — vultures are killed in large numbers when they feed on carcasses that livestock owners have laced with poison to kill predators such as jackals and hyenas, and also by lead from ammunition and by the veterinary anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, which is lethal to vultures that eat treated livestock and which devastated Asian vulture populations. Egyptian vultures are also electrocuted on poorly designed power poles, collide with wind turbines on migration, lose nest sites and food supplies to changing farming practices, and in some areas are hunted or captured for belief-based use. Conservation focuses on banning vulture-toxic drugs, tackling poisoning, retrofitting power lines, and supplementary feeding.