Little by little we are increasing the number of bird species fitted with our dataloggers. In January the very first vulture species was added to the list - the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus. Two young birds were fitted with our 33 gram devices in distant Oman, where the research on these birds is being carried out by a team led by Dr. Mike McGrady.
As with almost all Old World vulture species, Egyptian Vultures numbers have declined dramatically in recent years across its range which stretches from Spain to Central Asia in the north and Africa and India in the south. Oman is considered a stronghold for both resident and migratory populations.
Unfortunately, we did not have to wait long for evidence that survival is difficult. One month after tagging, one of the birds was found dead after his logger had been showing the same position for a week. The cause of the death is now being investigated.
You can read more about the project on the Egyptian Vulture blog, and follow the movements of the other tagged vulture. This project is supported by the Vulture Conservation Foundation, the Environment Society of Oman, and the Greater Los Angeles Zoological Association.