Early March 2016

On 1 March, 80 was visiting a rubbish dump just east of Bidiyah, but soon flew back to area around the Tahwa Landfill, where it has spent much of the past month.

Movements of juvenile Egyptian vulture (80) during first half of March 2016.  Click on the image to open it up larger in a new tab.

The map below shows the movements of 80 during a single 24 hour period.  The time stamps are in GMT, so one can see that the vulture is spending the day at the Tahwa Landfill, and its nights roosting in the steep sided wadi to the east.

Movements of juvenile Egyptian vulture during a single 24-hour period.

End of February 2016

Some good news and some not so good news... First the good news.

80 has spent the last two weeks south east of where it was caught. From 16-23 Feb it was mostly in the mountains near the village of Wadd.  During 23-29 February it mostly visited the Tahwa Landfill site, which is the main waste disposal site for Sur.  While there it spend a good deal of its time perched on the pylons of the high voltage power line nearby, but also spent time in the northern Jebel Qahwan (Does anyone have a map of the new MECA protected area in Jebel Qahwan?  If so, can you send it to me?   Its a great place to see resident Egyptian vultures and there are some unknown number of breeding pairs in the mountains there.).  On the 29th it made a leap to the west, moving between the mountains and the Wahiba Sands near the towns of Bidya and Al Qabil.  Its last locations in February were on some power lines just south of the main road, near the Bidya rubbish dump.

Movements of juvenile Egyptian vulture during 16-29 February 2016.

Movements of Egyptian vulture between pylons (linear array of points left of centre), Tahwa Landfill (cluster near the centre of the map, and Jebel Qahwan (duster to the right).

Movements of juvenile Egyptian vultures on 29 February 2016.

The bad news is that 93, the other bird we were tracking, has died.  It flew out from the pylon on which it roosted in Al Amerat on the 16th, and two hours later we were receiving the signal from a non-moving transmitter.  When we recovered the bird there was no evidence of what was the cause of death.  It was not very near to any powerlines, and there was no obvious evidence that it had been shot.   Sadly, we were unable to collect it as soon as it died, and in the warm air of Oman, the body decomposed quickly.  Thus, clues as to why it died may have been lost.  While it is tempting to speculate that some human-related factor was involved and we know there are many human related threats to vultures, it is true that juvenile birds of all species, including Egyptian vultures have high rates of natural mortality.  While we know of no studies on this species, similarly sized raptors can have natural first year mortality of 70% or more.  Still, we are very sorry to lose 93. Here is a link to information on tracking of vultures from Bulgaria, which sadly also shows that mortality seems to be very high for this species http://www.lifeneophron.eu/en/news-view/371.html 

Early February 2016

The birds we fitted with transmitters have been moving about a bit.  Like the birds we tracked last year, they have not visited the Al Multaqaa landfill consistently since we trapped them.  I have talked to Dick Forsman (author of a umber of books on raptor identification) and he tells me that based on the timing of the moult we observed in the birds we captured, he would think they are probably from southern parts of the species distribution... perhaps Oman.

Below are some maps of the movements of the two vultures we have been tracking (Click on the images and they should open up larger in a separate window.  Currently we identify them by their transmitter numbers (80 and 93), but perhaps we should find names for them. In the first two weeks of February, 80  has been mostly east of Sur (near the village of Wadd) and 93 was on 1 February about 6 km east of Sifa, and since then has been mostly in the Al Amerat area (roosting on power lines near the Oman Oil petrol station south of the road from Boushar).

For the last six months or so we have been collaborating with the Vulture Conservation Foundation. They have featured the work in Oman on their web site http://www.4vultures.org/news/.  Have a look at that and all the other things they are doing for vultures.

Movements of "80" during the first two weeks of February 2016.

Movements of "93" during the first two weeks of February 2016.

Have you seen a ringed bird? Let us know.

Before radio tracking of birds was possible, scientists marked birds with uniquely numbered rings to provide information on the movements of birds, how long they lived and to estimate likely population size and detect population trends.

While radio tracking has some advantages, it has not made marking birds by other means obsolete, and ringing remains a basic tool used by scientists, the data from which can be combined with information from radio tags to better understand bird ecology.  The data from both are similar:  the bird is "marked" with a radio tag or ring at some known location and time, and then "recaptured or recovered" at some later known location and time.  The main difference is that recapture of radio tagged birds is done remotely (and usually more frequently) via the radio signal, and the ringed bird is usually physically caught or found dead.

Egyptian vulture marked with uniquely numbered metal and Darvic rings (Photo: M. McGrady)

Some of the main advantages of ringing include its low cost and that it can harness the efforts of amateurs, citizen scientists and the public to collect useful information.  In recent years, the availability of high quality optics and affordable high resolution digital cameras has made the accurate identification of birds possible for anyone by examining closely pictures of birds with rings or wing tags and then getting in contact with those who fitted the rings/tags.

Wing-tagged eagle in Kuwait.

Because Oman is a winter destination for many birds from farther north, and a stronghold for many species of conservation interest, Oman is a good place to look for marked birds (or at least keep them in mind when you are viewing your photos after a day in the field.).There have been a number of cases of marked birds turning up in Oman, being spotted by birdwatchers or photographers, and identified from their marks, including the steppe eagle below, an eastern imperial eagle from Kazakhstan some years ago, and an eastern imperial eagle in 2015.

Colour-ringed Steppe eagle near Salalah (Photo: A.Kovac)

Close up of colour ring from digital photograph (Photo: A. Kovac)

So, if you do spot a bird (of any species) in the wild with a ring or find one dead (or you know someone who does), please report it to us (just make a comment on this blog).  If it is one we have marked we will give you information on it; if it is not, then we will work to find out who did ring the bird, and pass that information along.  Such information is highly valuable to us as we try to understand these birds and conserve them.

Colour-ringed Egyptian vulture on a carcass in France. (Photo: C. Ponchon)

Tracking of Egyptian vultures, late January 2016

We fitted two young Egyptian vultures with tracking devices in January.  These are solar-powered GPS-GSM devices that record the GPS location of the tag and then sends that information, via SMS, over the mobile phone network.  These differ from the ones we used last year, which recorded the GPS location, then sent the data via the Argos system of satellites.  Below is a picture of one of the birds with its tag.

Egyptian vulture fitted with a solar-powered GPS-GSM tag. (photo: M. McGrady)

Since tagging the birds have been moving in areas frequented by the birds tagged in 2015, to the east and south east of the rubbish dump at Al Multaquaa.

Locations of two Egyptian vultures fitted with GPS-GSM transmitters.  One is currently in the mountains west of Sifa and the other is NW of Tiwi.  The shaded area is the Al Salil Protected Area.

Particular thanks for the January effort goes to people at Be'ah, MECA, ESO and Sita-Suez, Glyn Barrett and Faisal Al Lamki

Two Egyptian vultures fitted with transmitters in January 2016

As a follow-on to the tracking of two Egyptian vultures in Oman in 2015 (See earlier blog posts), two more Egyptian vultures have been fitted with transmitters (and colour and metal rings) in January 2016.  This is a joint effort by-like minded individuals and organizations that currently has no fixed funding, but is moving forward largely because of the in-kind support of those involved.  The work is being done under licence issued by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs in Oman.

To recap the reason why research on Egyptian vultures in Oman is so important... Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is a globally endangered species that is declining in most of its range, which extends from Spain to Central Asia in the north to India and much of Africa in the south.  Oman is a stronghold for the species, both as a breeder and as a migrant from areas farther north; Masirah Island hosts the second highest density of breeding Egyptian vultures in the world. A wide range of factors contribute to the decline, including active and inadvertent poisoning, electrocution, shooting, and killing for traditional medicine.

Currently, gaps in our understanding of vulture ecology and changing patterns of climate, food availability, persecution and other factors are undermining our ability to conserve this (and other) vulture species.  For that reason, it is critically important to undertake work to address the knowledge gap. While conserving species is important in that it helps maintain biological diversity, in the case of vultures, conserving them means we are also enabling them to perform important ecological services (disposal of waste) that benefit humans.

In the coming days, I will be posting information on the work, and the birds we are tracking, and then post updates every so often.  I do hope that these birds survive better than the ones marked in 2015.  Both birds we marked last year were young, and so more likely to die because of lack of experience, and as we posted earlier, one of those birds was known to have been electrocuted (See posts in December 2015).

Releasing an Egyptian vulture fitted with a GPS tracking device (Photo: ESO)

More about electrocution

Worldwide electrocution is a huge problem for large birds, including many eagles and vultures. Many of the species affected by electrocution (like the Egyptian vulture) are also endangered, and electrocution contributes to their poor conservation status.  Click here to access a paper on electrocution of Egyptian vultures in East Africa by Ivaylo Angelov and others.  If you Google the words "bird electrocution power lines" you will be able to see loads of images of many species that have been electrocuted, mostly large species and many predatory birds

Oman is recognized as a global stronghold for Egyptian vulture because of its seemingly stable breeding population, and as a destination for many migrants from farther north.  It is also an important winter destination for migrating eagles, like the endangered Steppe Eagle (which is on the 100 Baiza note) and Eastern Imperial Eagle.  Oman was thought to be relatively safe for Egyptian vultures, and other species, although the possibility that birds were being electrocuted was always there.  Sadly, this incident shows that electrocutions occur, we just don't know at what rate.

Juvenile Egyptian vulture perched on a dangerous power line in Oman. (Photo: A. Kovac)

While the news of this bird's death is sad, and the prospect that more birds are electrocuted is worrying, there is a positive side.

1) Oman is a developing country and is only now installing much of its power transmission network, a process that will grow as the human population grows and human activities are started up in new areas.  This means that using pylon designs that reduce electrocution during this development phase could help avoid future electrocution at almost no additional cost.  Much has been done in North America http://www.aplic.org/, Europe and Africa to design such safe pylons.

Juvenile golden eagle electrocuted on a power line in North America (Photo: USFWS)

2) The distribution in Oman of the large birds that are most vulnerable to electrocution is somewhat predictable.  Many of the migrating raptors are also scavengers and concentrate near rubbish dumps and many of the resident raptors are territorial and use particular habitats.  This means that "sensitivity maps" can be drawn that identify areas where risk is particularly high, and these areas can then be the focus of efforts to reduce that risk.  In doing this the biggest conservation benefit will be realized sooner and with the least effort and cost.

Wintering Steppe Eagles on a dangerous pylon near a rubbish dump in Oman (Photo: A. Kovac)

3) In some cases the most immediate solution is to change the pylons that are most dangerous.  This, of course, costs money.  Because of this problem bird biologists have long worked with transmission line engineers to design cost-effective solutions or retro-fitting.  Indeed, in the long run these modifications could save money by reducing the number of times engineers have to visit sites of electrocution.  Reducing electrocutions would also have the advantage of reducing power outages to customers.

If you'd like to read more about this problem, click on the links below.

https://www.ewt.org.za/species%20factsheets/bop/Electrocution.pdf
http://www.ub.edu/aligaperdiguera/EEAPcat/pdf/Tinto_et_al_2010.pdf
https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/jfo/v062n02/p0181-p0190.pdf
http://wildlifepreserves.org/files/pdfs/Bird%20Collisions.pdf
http://www.murcianatural.carm.es/europa/life00214/pdf/DISCOLIFE_/LIFE_tendidos_Murcia2/Albert_Tinto/Ma%F1osa2001.pdf