Griffon Vulture (Wild Animals by Papo)

Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972

I’ve always been rather fond of vultures due to their large size, intimidating appearance, and the crucial role they play in consuming carrion. The Eurasian griffon (Gyps fulvus) is a very typical Old World vulture with quite a large population in Spain and much smaller populations scattered across the rest of Europe. A social bird, it feeds, lives, and breed in colonies numbering well into the hundreds.

The 2015 Papo vulture is sculpted with its great wings spread, its head held low, and its feet extended out in front. This makes it appear as though the animal is in the midst of touching down onto the ground or atop a corpse. Alternatively, it could be trying to warn off another vulture that it does not wish to share with. The tail is used for a third limb and while the toy does stand up, it tips to its left very easily.

The vulture’s main colour is light brown. The head is black with dark brown eyes and the neck, the feathers around the shoulders, and the feathers on the lower legs are white. The feet are dull brown with glossy black claws. The primary feathers are painted very dark brown on the inside and a lighter shade on the opposite side. Multiple streaks of white run along the inside of the wings. The backs of the wings are done up in multiple shades of brown and the tail feathers are very dark brown. The vulture looks pretty accurate on the whole, but it is missing the dull yellow patch on its beak.

The vulture has a wingspan of 14 cm, a height of 5.5 cm, and a length of about 6 cm. The head and neck are appropriately featherless with baggy, wrinkly skin. The feet are scaly and end in curved, but not large talons. The tail feathers are relatively short and form a shape rather like a scallop shell. The front of the torso is covered in shaggy plumage and the wings clearly boast all the familiar types of flight feathers. While all of it is very nicely sculpted, the edges of the vulture’s wings look too smooth and uniform. They should have a more ragged, uneven appearance, especially the largest primaries at the tips.

The Papo vulture is honestly not the greatest bird of prey toy I’ve come across, but it is certainly an impressive and fun one nonetheless. It looks big and intimidating and its outstretched wings allow for more play than if they were folded up. Recommended. And another big thank you goes out to the kind and generous people at Happy Hen Toys for this review sample. You can find it for sale right here. 🙂

With the Safari Ltd. Green-winged Macaw:

…and the Papo Canada Goose: