Egyptian vulture tracking paper

Here's a tip:  We have just published an article on Egyptian vultures we tracked via satellite.  You can read it online here:

http://rdcu.be/JqCl

Pass the link on to others you think might be interested.

Also, remember to keep an eye out for colour marked birds, especially Egyptian vultures (we have now colour marked 17 in Oman).  So many people are taking great pictures of birds.  Like the one of a subadult Egyptian vulture by Hassan Mohamed below.

Sub-adult Egyptian vulture

For those of you who are photographing birds, make sure to look closely at your photos.  Sometimes one does not see a colour mark (or ring or transmitter) until one looks at a reasonable picture.  Below are photos (by A. Kovac) of a colour-ringed Steppe eagle (from Russia) photographed at Raysut rubbish dump in Salalah.

What's up with 171318?

171318 is an adult Egyptian vulture we caught and fitted with a transmitter on 20 January.  All the other vultures we have captured have stayed in fairly limited areas in NE Oman, travelling no farther west than Bid Bid.  Below is a simple animation of the movements of 171318.  Double click on the video to open it in a larger screen.  As you can see, its movements are very different.  We'll have to wait to see what happens.

Tayeh

One of the satellite transmitters we deployed in January in Oman was provided by  the Vulture Conservation Foundation.  They had a little contest amongst their supporters to give the vulture a name, and the supporters chose, "Tayeh" التائه , the wanderer. Below is a map of what Tayah has done since it was caught, and a map of what it has done during the first week of March.  Recently, it seems to be concentrating its time in the hills south of the village of Jaslut جحلوت, and maybe this is a sign that this is a resident bird and not a migrant.  We'll have to wait and see.

You should take the opportunity to visit the Vulture Conservation Foundation's web site.  It has a lot of information on other things they are doing for vultures, including tracking Egyptian vultures that spend their summers on the Iberian Peninsula and their winters in  West Africa (those birds are migrating now!).

Movements of an adult Egyptian vulture (Tayeh) during mid January - early March 2018.

Movements of an adult Egyptian vulture (Tayeh) during mid 1-6 March 2018.

Releasing Tayeh on 19 Jan 2018.