13. June 2010
A new interview is available, this time with Fulvio Genero about vultures in Italy.
Interview with Fulvio Genero about vultures in Italy
Fulvio talks about the current situation of Vultures in Italy, the historical development, reintroduction programs, threats to vultures. He also gives an outlook on the future of those great birds in Italy.
Fulvio has also written an article in the wonderful new book about European vultures:
New vulture book: Vultures, feeding stations and sanitary legislation: a conflict and its consequences from the perspective of conservation biology
30. May 2010
SEO/Birdlife Spain has recently published the results from census of Golden Eagles, Egyptian Vultures, Osprey, Griffon Vultures and Peregrine Falcons in Spain in 2008.
To gather all those date, a huge effort by many people was needed. SEO publishes all the results in free e-books (in PDF format).
Click on the cover of each PDF to download it.
Golden Eagle
Osprey
Egyptian Vulture
Griffon Vulture
Peregrine Falcon
The reports are very detailed, for example the one on the Golden Eagle has 189 pages.
Other results from earlier censuses can be found here (incl. Bonelli’s Eagle, Cinereous Vulture, several harrier species, Eleonora’s Falcon and many other birds):
http://www.seo.org/programa_seccion_ficha.cfm?idPrograma=3&idArticulo=225
The new results are very interesting. For example, for the Golden Eagle, the census found 1,553 definite pairs and 216 likely pairs which gives a Spanish population of 1,769 pairs. This makes Spain very important for the conservation of the Golden Eagle in Europe.
5. May 2010
As GREFA writes, the reintroduction program for the Cinereous Vulture in the Pyrenees is going very well. This April, the first chick hatched. This is the first chick in the Pyrenees for more than 100 years.
The goal of this reintroduction project is to create a bridge between the colonies in Spain (mostly in southern and western Spain) and the reintroduced population in France and other European populations.
In 2010, SEO/Birdlife Spain has elected the Cinereous Vulture as the Bird of the Year 2010 in Spain.
At the moment, the Pyrenees in Catalonia are the only region in Europe where all four European raptor species breed close to each other.
The first chick hatching in the Pyrenees is great news for vulture conservation in Europe and another great milestone in the success story of the conservation the Cinereous Vulture, Europe’s largest raptor.
More information (in Spanish) incl. a video that shows the nest with the chick can be found here:
Nace un Buitre Negro en Boumort
3. May 2010
Euronatur has published the latest edition of their newsletter about migratory birds. The newsletter also covers species that are not migratory.
This new edition is currently only available in German. It covers many raptor species including Bearded Vulture, Cinereous Vulture, Greater Spotted Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, White-tailed Eagle and Saker Falcon.
Click here to go to the latest edition of this newsletter:
http://www.euronatur.org/Ausgabe-16-April-2010.1007.0.html
22. April 2010
Eastern Imperial Eagle family breakfast.
© Picture: Dobromir Dobrinov/Green Balkans
A new interview is available:
Interview with Simeon Marin from Green Balkans about the conservation of Eastern Imperial Eagles, Lesser Kestrels and Cinereous Vultures in Bulgaria.
The interview covers the work of Green Balkans for a project called “Conservation measures for target species of the EU Birds Directive – Lesser Kestrel, Black Vulture, and Imperial Eagle in their main habitats in Bulgaria”
All three species are threatened across Europe and in Bulgaria, currently only the Eastern Imperial Eagle is a regular, but rare, breeding species.
Green Balkans works to increase the number of the Eastern Imperial Eagle and hopes that both the Lesser Kestrel and the Cinereous Vulture will come back as a regular breeding species to Bulgaria.
Reed the interview to learn more about this important project and what Green Balkans is doing to protect those three amazing raptor species.
18. April 2010
Eurasian Griffon Vulture, Spain, December 2007, © Markus Jais
After a few Griffon Vultures escaped before the planned date for a reintroduction in Bulgaria, the birds already started the first breeding attempts in the Kresna Gorge in Bulgaria – after an absense of 60 years.
Emilian Stoynov from the Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna wrote on the Balkan Vultures mailing list.
One pair is actively bringing sticks and is building nest and copulation was several times observed. It seems they will soon lay an egg. The nest is easily visible from the road in the gorge.
There is also second pair showing breeding behavior and it seems it is already incubating. But the breeding of this second pair is only indirectly documented, based on the presence of different birds at the feeding site and obvious changes of incubating partners.
There is also evidence for even third breeding pair. However this needs further confirmation.
The reintroduction project for the Griffon Vulture is a important step towards securing the future of this amazing species in Europe.
For more information, please visit the website of the Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna:
http://fwff.org
17. April 2010
SEO/Birdlife Spain has declared the “Buitre Negro” (Black Vulture) as the “Ave del Año 2010″ (Bird of the Year 2010).
The Cinereous Vulture is the largest raptor in Europe and most European pairs breed in Spain. There, according to SEO, the population has increased from less than 200 pairs to more than 2,000 pairs today.
But there are still threats to the species like poisoning or lack of food.
To find out more about the conservation program for the Cinerous Vulture, visit the website for the Bird of the Year 2010 in Spain:
http://www.seo.org/programa_intro.cfm?idPrograma=88
There is a video and lot’s of information (in Spanish).
16. March 2010
I just published a new interview with Ivaylo Angelov about the Egyptian Vulture in Bulgaria.
Interview with Ivaylo Angelov about the Egyptian Vulture in Bulgaria.
The species shows a dramatic decline in Bulgaria but the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) is working very hard to make sure the species has a future in Bulgaria. Make sure to read the interview.
6. March 2010
Stavros Xirouchakis at feeding station
I am happy to announce another interview, this time with Stavros Xirouchakis about the current situation of the Vultures on Crete:
Interview with Stavros Xirouchakis about Vultures on Crete
Of the four European vulture species, the Bearded and the Griffon Vulture breed on Crete. The Cinereous vulture is a rare winter visitor and the Egyptian vulture is an autumn migrant.
In the interview, Stavros explains the threats to vultures on Crete (like poison and wind farms) and what needs to be done to secure a future for those magnificent raptors on Crete.
Stavros also wrote an article about vulture conservation in Greece in the upcoming book:
Buitres, muladares y legislación sanitaria: perspectivas de un conflicto y sus consecuencias desde la Biología de la Conservación.
Vultures, feeding stations and sanitary legislation: a conflict and its consequences from the perspective of conservation biology.
See here for more information about the book:
New vulture book: Vultures, feeding stations and sanitary legislation: a conflict and its consequences from the perspective of conservation biology
16. January 2010
A new interview is available on europeanraptors.org, this time about the Bearded Vulture, one of the most spectacular raptors in Europe:
Interview with Richard Zink about the Bearded Vulture in the Alps
The Bearded Vulture is one of the most interesting raptors in the world. Unfortunately, in Europe it is also one of the most endangered ones. It was completely wiped out in the Alps but thanks to a huge reintroduction program, the species is back and breeding successfully in the wild.
In this new interview, Richard Zink explains the current situation of the Bearded Vulture in the Alps, the work of the International Bearded Vulture Monitoring and the future of the species.
Richard also explains at what to look for when you see a Bearded Vulture in the Alps and where to send the data of your sightings. Every observation can yield new information.
Make sure to also visit the website of the International Bearded Vulture Monitoring:
www.gyp-monitoring.com
