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

Sad News

It is with great regret that I report that the Egyptian vulture we have been tracking since January 2015 has died.  The Environment Society of Oman (ESO) has posted something on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EnvironmentSocietyOfOman/?fref=ts).  The last transmission we had from this bird was in the afternoon of 13 December from a location just north of the Sifa Resort.  Sensors on board the transmitter showed it to be working normally, but the transmissions ended abruptly.  Below is a map of the locations in the week before the end of transmissions.

Vulture locations in the week before its death.

Last two locations

We waited for another transmission cycle to pass before worrying because other things can affect transmissions, like the amount of sunlight or whether the bird is in view of a satellite.  On 19 January Dr. Glyn Barret went in search of the bird, using the coordinates of its last location.  He found it dead from apparent electrocution under power lines and a transformer.  The transmitter was apparently fried.  See below.

Dead satellite tagged Egyptian vulture below power lines near Sifa. (Photo G. Barrett)

Last location.  One can see the shadow of the pylons in the picture above.

Dead vulture.  Transmitter can be clearly seen in the middle of the picture.(Photo G. Barrett)

The dead vulture during happier days (Photo W. AlFazari).

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.

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.  Indeed, it may have been that the other vulture we tracked, which disappeared in March, was also electrocuted.

In the coming days I'll post more information on the issue of electrocution and birds, so hopefully this sad event will have some positive effect.

Early December 2015

The tracked Egyptian vulture has settled into the area where it has spent most of its time since it was captured 11 months ago.  Early in the month it was located mostly inland from Sifa, then during 4-5 December it was on the coast south of Quriyat, and roosting on a power pylon SW of the town. In recent days it has moved back up to range in villages along the Muscat to Quriyat road (الطريف Al Traiff

الفياض Al Fiadh, حيفظ Heifdh) and made quick journey to the area around Yiti.  Although back north of the Hajar Mountains, it seems not to have visited the rubbish dump at Al Multaqua in the last two weeks.

Movements of a sub-adult Egyptian vulture during early December 2015.

End of November 2015

During the past week the satellite tracked bird has moved around quite a bit.  During 23-24 November it was mostly located east of Sinaw.  During 25-28 November it moved NE and was located NE of Ibra.  Late on the 28th, it moved across the Hajar Mountains to a place just west of Sifa, not very distant from the Al Multaqa rubbish dump where it was first captured.  By the 30th it had moved south towards Quriyat.

Egyptian vultures are, of course, scavengers, and have the ability to cover huge distance in search of food, and may need to do so when food availability is low.  However, between the large and small rubbish dumps near the towns and cities of Oman, the shoreline and the death of animals in rural areas it seems that there is a lot of food around in Oman for vultures.  We don't know why this bird made these relatively long movements.  Maybe with more data and data from other birds, we'll come to better understand vulture ecology in Oman.

Movements of an Egyptian vulture during 23-30 November 2015.

Mid-November 2015

Since January when we started tracking this vulture, it has moved mostly in the area between Muscat and Quriyat, and has stayed north of the eastern Hajar Mountains.  In the beginning of November it made a move to the south, crossing the mountains and spending time around Ibra.  In the past few days it has been mostly near Sinaw, and when one looks closely at individual locations, it seems it has been visiting the rubbish dumps at Sinaw and at other smaller villages, and roosting at a hill SE of Sinaw.

Movements of a 3rd yr Egyptian vulture during 12-18 November 2015.

Zoomed image showing movements near Sinaw.

Further zoomed image showing a view from the north of a hill and cliffs where the vulture has been roosting.