Birds as Lift Markers

British Air Traffic Control: Beware of Giant Vulture at 35,000 feet

By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

Commercial airline pilots flying over Scotland and Britain have been
told to be on the watch for a vulture with a 10-foot wingspan that can
fly at heights exceeding 30,000 feet.

Reuters says the bird -- a 7-year-old Ruppell's Vulture -- escaped and
"has not been seen since she caught a warm thermal during a show at
the World of Wings center in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on Tuesday."

That prompted Britain's air traffic control group to issue the
warning. "We made pilots aware of the possibility of seeing this bird
as it has a three-meter wingspan and can fly at altitudes used by
commercial aircraft," a British air traffic control spokesman says to
the Telegraph of London.

The Telegraph adds that "in 1974, a collision was recorded between one
of the creatures and an aircraft at a height of 37,000ft."

The Scotsman newspaper says the bird -- named Gandalf -- "has been the
star attraction at World of Wings since 2006, when she was brought
from Africa to be part of a breeding program."

And, while Britain has warned pilots in its airspace about the board,
it sounds as though an encounter with Gandalf could be equally dicey
for folks the ground. Officials have warned anyone who might spot the
bird to call authorities -- and to keep their distance.

"She has no fear of humans and she could give someone a very severe
bite -- her beak is designed to tear flesh apart," David Ritchie,
director of the attraction that includes Gandalf, tells the Telegraph.

Alan Galloway, director at World of Wings, adds to Reuters that
Gandalf is "clever and quite charming, but temperamental and not
everybody's cup of tea."