They seem to be resident

by H. Rayaleh and M. McGrady

So far, it seems that the birds we marked in Tadjoure in March are all resident birds; they were all adults.  Below is a map of some of the birds we are tracking.  If you double click on the map you should be able to see a full screen view. The map illustrates that some are probably territory holders (blue, green, red), and may be breeding now (its spring and love is in the air), and at least one is seemingly unattached to a territory, and wandering more widely.  The territory holder are occassionally visiting Tadjoure, presumably to feed at the abattoir there, from time to time.

Please, everyone stay healthy.

Movements of Egyptian vultures during March 2020.

New tracking initiative starting in 2020

by M. McGrady and H. Rayaleh

Mabla (216) being released by Houssein

This blog post marks the re-activation of  the Egyptian vultures in Djibouti blog, after a pause of over a year.  During 10-22 February 2020 we did field work in Djibouti on Egyptian vultures that followed up on our work in 2013.  In 2013, we fitted a single sub-adult Egyptian vulture (Assamo) with a GPS-PTT (satellite transmitter), and tracked it for about 18 months.  During that time, it moved between two centres of activity, one north of Tajoura, Djibouti and one near Adigala, Ethiopia.  We never got to the bottom of why that bird made such long journeys between those centres, but we did write a paper that used those data and data from Oman http://egyptianvultureoman.blogspot.com/ to examine the movements of non-breeding Egyptian vultures.  You can download that paper from the 24 Jan 2014 blog post https://egyptianvulturedjibouti.blogspot.com/2019/01/new-publication-using-data-from-assamo.html.

Anyway… during our 2020 field work we fitted 7 adult Egyptian vultures with satellite transmitters. In the coming weeks/months/years we will be posting updates about these birds every so often.  So as to get started, below is a map of the movements of Mabla (pictured above) since it was tagged on 16 February.  Unlike the others that we tagged, Mabla does not appear to be a territory holder, but has wandered over to near Semera, Ethiopia.  

Please follow this blog to keep up to date, and let others know about it.  We'll be posting more soon.

Movements of Mabla, an adult Egyptian vulture during 16 February - 8 March 2020

New publication using data from Assamo

Egyptian vulture captured in Oman in 2018.

Analysis of data from tracked juvenile Egyptian vultures in Djibouti and Oman suggests that, even when food is plentiful and concentrated in a single place, they will forage over large areas, thereby keeping abreast of the current availability of food.  This behaviour would of course be advantageous because information on food availability is a hedge against the ephemeral food on which vultures typically rely (Download the paper by clicking on the link below). Adults may be doing the same thing, albeit affected by breeding/territoriality.  But that is another paper, which may arise from data we are collecting in Oman.  See  http://egyptianvultureoman.blogspot.com

Click here to download 

Assamo... an update...finally

Last post to this blog was in 2014!  However, Assamo has been transmitting intermittently since then. 

Below is a map of its movements during the time it has been tracked.  It has turned out that Assamo is, indeed, a resident (not migratory) Djiboutian.  The most recent locations are from June 2018, and were from near Obock.  That means Assamo has been being tracked for over 5.5 years, and he is at least about 10 yrs old.

The reason this tag is not transmitting regularly is not known, but may be because the long feathers on Assamo's neck are partially covering the solar panels at time.  No matter... it is good that some data are coming in, and that the bird appears to be alive.

Movements of a Egyptian vulture tracked in Djibouti during 2013-2018.  Green lines are roads and dark grey lines are high voltage powerlines.  Many locations are along roads and powerlines, where birds perch.

Locations from June 2018 near the town of Obock, Djibouti.

Assamo in late April 2014 - back to Adigala

For much of late April Assamo was mostly in a very limited area (within 1 km sq) just off the main Tajoura-Obock road in an Acacia-wooded wadi, making a few trips into Tadjoura and visiting the abbatoir there. Although his movements were restricted to a small area, the Google satellite images did not show any obvious nearby cliffs where Assamo could nest.

Map showing concentration of locations along the Tadjoura - Obock road in northern Djibouti, late April 2014.

Just when we thought Assamo had settled back into a life in northern Djibouti around Tadjoura, on 1 May he moved back down to Adigala in Ethiopia.   Assamo was last in Adigala around 30 December 2013.  During the second half on 2013 Assamo spent much time in the vicinity of Adigala, but also moved between there and northern Djibouti at least twice (See earlier posts).

I guess that we can safely say that Assamo is not going to breed this spring and is not going to migrate.  This does not sound exciting, but really it is because the group of vultures (or any birds) that we know least about is the non-breeders.  In a species like Egyptian vulture, which matures only over a number of years, lack of information on this group undermines long-term conservation.

Assam's movements during late April 2014.  The locations in to the SW are near the town of Adigala

Assamo in early April 2014

Assamo continues to follow the pattern of movement he has displayed since he was captured over a year ago.  During early April he has been moving around rural areas of Obock and Tadjoura, northern Djibouti.  His movements cluster around villages and settlements.  Some locations have been near cliffs, where he might nest, but there is no indication so far that he has settled down.  On 3 April Assamo visited Ras Siyan, and we thought he might migrate, but he then retreated.  By 15 April he was back moving between human settlements north of Tadjoura.

Assamo's movements during 1-15 April 2014

Threat to Egyptian and Gyps vultures in Europe

In the past 20 years huge declines have been seen in Gyps vulture populations in India and surrounding countries.  These declines have been linked to the veterinary use of Diclofenac, a non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drug.  Declines in vultures have had knock on effects like increases in wild dog populations and consequent potential impacts on human health.  Diclofenac seems also to be poisonous to Egyptian vultures.  Vulture populations in Africa seem also to be affected by the use of Diclofenac.  Apparent good substitutes for Diclofenac that do not affect vultures have been identified.

Recently, Dicolfenac has become available in Europe for veterinary applications.  This threatens vulture populations there, most of which are of conservation concern, all of which are legally protected.  Please consider signing the petition below calling for the banning of Diclofenac in Europe.

https://www.change.org/petitions/european-union-diclofenac-the-vulture-killing-drug-is-now-available-on-eu-market