Monday, May 3, 2021

THE MOST TRAVELLED VULTURE FITTED WITH GPS

 Filenews 3 May 2021



Of the 4 Vultures currently equipped with GPS transmitters, one is clearly travelling more than the rest... vulture marked 'CAA', as stated in a statement by the BirdLife Association of Cyprus.

In less than two months (March-April), the CAA travelled farther than all Vultures with a transmitter, covering a total of 4,683 km! On one of his trips, he travelled from Episkopi along the coasts of Limassol, Larnaca, Famagusta and spent the night in Rizocarpasos. The next day, he returned to the Diocese following the same route. On another trip, he reached the edge of the Akamas peninsula!

According to the Association, CAA was born in 2013 in Crete and moved to Cyprus the same year along with other Vultures to support the population. Thanks to the "Life with Vultures" program, last September the CAA was equipped with a GPS transmitter and so the program team closely and regularly monitors its movements, recording valuable information about its territory and feeding areas.

A little introduction to the topic

Vultures played a key role in the evolution of the monitoring of bird movements (movement ecology), says the BirdLife Cyprus Association. Thanks to their large bodies and long journeys, they were used as models in the first tests of much heavier GPS transmitters on birds. Thanks to this technology, we now know much more about the territories of these birds and the long distances they can cover. Using high currents of hot air (thermals), they can gain a high height by cruising, thus saving energy and making long-distance trips in search of food.

During the LIFE programme "Life with Vultures", GPS transmitters will be placed on a large sample of the current population, as well as on all birds to be imported from Spain to boost the population. Already, the program team has placed transmitters on 4 Vultures to better understand their behaviour and movements.

A Vulture with a GPS transmitter minutes before its release © E. Karatzia

Both in Cyprus and other countries, Vultures start their daily trips in the middle of the day, when the thermal currents are more intense. According to studies, but also according to the monitoring of the movements of vultures in Cyprus, the distances travelled by vultures increase in the spring. However, this behaviour does not apply to all birds in the population. Specifically, breeding birds stay close to their breeding colonies, while the others leave the colonies and begin to wander in search of food and to explore new areas.

And now, the CAA story...

"CAA" is a Vulture of unknown sex who was born in 2013 in Crete and was transferred the same year to Cyprus along with other Vultures as part of the project "GYPAS" to strengthen the Cypriot population. After spending a year and a few months in a special acclimatisation cage managed by the Hunting and Fauna Service, the bird was released back into the wild in February 2015. Thanks to the "Life with Vultures" program, last September the CAA was equipped with a GPS transmitter and so the program team closely and regularly monitors its movements, recording valuable information about its territory and feeding areas.

Of the 4 Vultures currently equipped with GPS transmitters, the "CAA" seems to be the most travelled. In less than two months (March-April), he travelled further than all vultures with a transmitter, covering a total of 4,683 km. Second comes "Icarus", a 4-year-old Vulture that covered about 3,220 km.

Watch the CAA's trip

Data from gps transmitters have shown that the "CAA" visited areas not visited by the other three birds (for the period wearing a transmitter). However, in the past, Cretan birds introduced to Cyprus as part of the "GYPAS" project had visited similar areas. Most of these areas are far from the usual population range. Within these two months, the "CAA" covered almost the entire coastline of Cyprus, exploring areas not so common to the species, such as Nicosia, Larnaca, Famagusta and even Kyrenia, flying over the mountains of Pentadylos. On one of its voyages, the bird travelled from Episkopi along the coasts of Limassol, Larnaca, Famagusta and spent the night in Rizocarpasos. The next day, he returned to the Diocese following the same route. In addition, the "CAA" visited other historical food and breeding areas of the species on the island. He also explored areas in Paphos province, such as Chrysochous Town, and reached the edge of the Akamas peninsula.

The more we know about the behaviour of the birds and their movements, such as the distances they cover each day and how the perching and feeding areas change depending on the season, the more we can achieve for the conservation of the species. The programme team will continue to monitor the movements of birds throughout the programme to assess the use of feeders, the use of historical breeding colonies and the level of acclimatisation of imported vultures from Spain to enhance the reduced population.

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The moment of the CAA's release © Silvio A. Rusmigo

So far, CAA's travels show that the species can easily travel to explore the whole of Cyprus. This shows that if conditions were favourable (population level, availability of food in more areas, reduction of nuisance in potential nesting sites, decrease in the use of poisoned baits) Vultures would probably explore new areas and use historical areas again for breeding and feeding, thus increasing their territory on the island.

Source: eyenews