SmartBirds
In the first days of August, a team from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) marked 5 Egyptian vultures with GPS transmitters in the Eastern Rhodopes. These are Ela, Sindel, Adam, Kalina, and Shada.
The story of Ela is extraordinary. The team was surprised to find that the vulture, which had been captured, was wearing a Greek metal ring. After checking with our partners at SPBT, it was discovered that the bird had been rescued from a massive wildfire that ravaged a large part of the Dadia National Park in 2022. The approaching fire threatened the nest of the vulture pair, and our colleagues from the Society for the Protection of Biodiversity of Thrace (SPBT) and the Natural Environment & Climate Change Agency (NECCA) acted immediately, evacuating the two chicks from the nest to a safe location. After the fire was extinguished, the chicks were safely returned to their parents, who successfully raised them. Now, three years later, one of these chicks is alive and well, once again soaring in the skies of the Rhodopes. Thanks to the transmitter that tagged it, we will now be able to track its movements.
Sindel is an adult male Egyptian vulture, part of a pair with the tagged female Solomona. The female was tagged in a wild nest five years ago, so now we will be able to track both birds in the pair.
Kalina is an adult female Egyptian vulture, also part of a pair. Her partner is Stanley, who has been tracked with a GPS transmitter for two years. The pair is currently raising two chicks in the nest, which are about to take their first flight this month.
Adam and Shada are juveniles, and they will soon begin to establish territories and form pairs.
Marking Egyptian vultures with GPS transmitters is crucial for understanding the details of their biology and ecology, as well as for combating the threats facing the species in their nesting areas and along their flyway.
The activities related to the conservation of the Egyptian vulture are part of the project “From Iron Curtain to Green Belt,” funded by the Endangered Landscapes & Seascape Programme (ELSP), managed by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative – a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and leading international organizations focused on biodiversity conservation. The University and the Endangered Landscapes Programme are supported by Arcadia, a charitable fund of Peter Baldwin and Lisbet Rausing.
