Good South African vulture news

This video is about Cape vultures in South Africa.

From Wildlife Extra:

Boost for vulture conservation in South Africa

Giving vulture conservation wings in Limpopo

May 2013. The Endangered Wildlife Trust‘s Wildlife and Energy Programme (EWT-WEP), in partnership with Eskom Limpopo Operating Unit, the EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme (EWT-BoPP) and the Vulture Conservation Programme (VulPro), is proud to announce the launch of the Limpopo Vulture Project.

Tracking devices to be fitted

“The main aim of the project is to use Global System for Mobile (GSM) tracking devices to obtain further information about the movement patterns of the different vulture species in Limpopo. These data will enable Eskom to make informed and vulture-friendly decisions when new powerlines are planned and erected. The project will also look at the relationship between line faults on Eskom distribution lines and vulture movements, in an attempt to determine whether tracking data can be used to predict where line faults are likely to occur. This will enable Eskom to mitigate potential interactions pro-actively rather than reactively,” commented Constant Hoogstad, Senior Field Officer of the EWT-WEP.

Nine vulture species found in South Africa

Nine vulture species occur in South Africa. Seven of these are listed in the South African Red Data List, ranging from Threatened to Critically Endangered. These are: the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus (considered regionally extinct), the Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus, the Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres, the Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotus, the Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus, the White-headed Vulture Trigonoceps occipitalis, and the African White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus.

Limpopo Province – Vulture restaurant

The Limpopo Province falls within the distribution range of most of these species, with the exception of the Bearded Vulture. Furthermore, one of the most active vulture restaurants in the country can be found less than 20km from the centre of Polokwane on the Mockford farm. This vulture restaurant regularly attracts species such as the Cape, White-backed, Hooded and Lappet-faced Vultures and recent records of Palm-nut Vultures.

Threats to vultures

“Vultures are faced with a number of threats, including poisoning, persecution, electrocution, collision with power lines, drowning in farm reservoirs, food shortages, loss of suitable habitat and the muthi trade.

Power lines

A major conservation focus in Limpopo is on the interaction between vultures and power lines. Tourism is one of the three pillars of the Limpopo province’s economy, along with mining and agribusiness. The province is well known for the rich variety of bird species, including a majority of the vulture species found in South Africa, and this attracts a number of tourists to Limpopo. This is one of the reasons why it is so critical that these species be conserved and threats to their survival be removed,” continued Hoogstad.

25 vultures to be fitted with tracking devices

Two different prominent vulture restaurants have been identified as capture sites in the Limpopo Province where 25 vultures will be captured and fitted with GSM tracking devices. The first capture site is the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre just outside Hoedspruit and the second site is Mockford Farms, just outside Polokwane. The tracking devices will allow us to investigate how vulture restaurants influence the movements of vultures. This will be done by analysing the movement of vultures over a one year period, and then moving the vulture restaurant from its current location, to a location that is a considerable distance away. The movement of the vultures will continue to be recorded to monitor for any changes.

If the vultures do change their movement patterns, the following aspects will be considered:

- How long does it take the vultures to adjust their behaviour as a result of the change of location of the vulture restaurant?
- Do they still move back to the old restaurant?
- Can moving a vulture restaurant change movement patterns in such a way that it can be used to minimise mortalities from wind farms and power lines?

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• Mozambican rhino poacher jailed for 15 years (thezimbabwean.co.uk)
• Eerie Sounds from the Vulture Chicks (thebackdoorartist.com)
• Vulture population dwindling (raminak.wordpress.com)
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Good California condor news

This video from the USA says about itself:

Wild California Condors Made Here

Sep 28, 2012

By 1982, fewer than two dozen California condors lived in the wild. By 1985, only one wild breeding pair was known to exist. That’s when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service decided to capture any remaining condors and bring them to live–and breed–in captivity. The Peregrine Fund, in Boise, Id., houses the largest California condor breeding center in the U.S.–with nearly sixty California condors living on site. Bill Heinrich and Taiana Carvalho take us “behind the enclosure” for a tour of the condor compound.

From Wildlife Extra:

California condor recovery reaches landmark

200th California condor chick hatches at The Peregrine Fund‘s captive breeding facility

May 2013. A tiny California condor chick marked a major milestone for The Peregrine Fund. It was the 200th chick to hatch in the conservation group’s captive breeding facility since joining the effort to breed endangered condors in 1993.

20 eggs this year

The captive breeding facility at The Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey is home to 62 condors, the world’s largest flock of captive condors. This year, 18 pairs produced a total of 20 eggs. When the chicks are about 9 months old, they are transferred to The Peregrine Fund’s release site near the Grand Canyon in Arizona, where they join the wild flock, which currently numbers 72 birds.

“We are thrilled to reach the 200 mark,” said Marti Jenkins, who oversees the condor propagation program. “Every chick takes us one step closer to saving this magnificent species from extinction.”

Wild foster parents

The Peregrine Fund works closely with three other facilities – Los Angeles Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and Oregon Zoo — that raise California Condors. This year, two of the eggs produced in Boise were placed in the nests of wild condors in California to replace eggs that were not viable. Both eggs hatched and are being reared by their wild foster parents. A third egg was transferred to the Oregon Zoo and also hatched successfully.

“We will be sending at least one more egg out to replace one from a wild nest in California,” Jenkins said. “Such swaps promote genetic diversity in a small population and enable this program to be as successful as possible.”

The captive breeding process bolsters wild breeding numbers, Jenkins said. This year, Peregrine Fund biologists have observed six wild condor pairs exhibiting incubating behaviours in the rugged canyon lands of northern Arizona.

An intensive condor recovery program began in the early 1980s when the continuing decline of the condor population required drastic measures. By 1982, only 22 condors remained on Earth. The last birds were brought into captivity to launch a breeding program. The first releases to the wild occurred in California in 1992. The Peregrine Fund began raising condors in 1993 and releasing them to the wild in 1996.

Today, there are more than 400 California Condors, with more than half of them flying free in the wild in Arizona, California and Baja, Mexico.

For more information about The Peregrine Fund’s condor recovery program, visit our Facebook pages.

California condors

Prior to reintroduction, the last wild condor in Arizona was sighted just south of the Grand Canyon in 1924.

Condors reach maturity at about six years of age. They usually produce one egg every other year.

The condor is the largest land bird in North America. The birds can weigh up to 26 pounds and have a wingspan up to 9½ feet.

Condors were added to the federal Endangered Species List in 1967.

Lead poisoning is the leading cause of death for California Condors in Arizona, with 26 deaths confirmed since 2000.

A comment on this at the Wildlife Extra site:

The California condor almost became extinct, but captive breeding has brought back their numbers. But they are being threatened again by lead poisoning. An alternative source has to be discovered for ammunition, or they could end up becoming on the verge of extinction again.

Posted by: Tim Upham | 04 May 2013 04:18:29

Related articles

• Oregon Zoo hatches its first California condor chick of the year (oregonlive.com)
• 1st Captive-Born California Condors Celebrate Birthdays (sandiego6.com)
• Back on the Brink: Will the Lead In Bullets Finally Kill Off the Condor? (e360.yale.edu)
• Several California condors dead since September (sfgate.com)
• California lead bullet ban moves forward (shalettedingle73.wordpress.com)
• Biodiversity: More condors die of lead poisoning (summitcountyvoice.com)
• San Diego Zoo Global Starts Online Poll to Name California Condor Chick (sandiego6.com)
• Big Sur: Hiking in condor country (photos.mercurynews.com)

Vulture egg in Dutch Amersfoort zoo

This video is called Griffon vultures in Bulgaria – part 1.

Part 2 is here.

Translated from Amersfoort zoo in the Netherlands:

Vulture egg discovered

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A vulture couple in Amersfoort zoo has laid an egg. A few weeks ago, two pairs of vultures started to build nests. In one of these nests an egg has now been found now.

The breeding season for the vultures in the City of Antiquity has arrived. In DierenPark Amersfoort eight griffon vultures live. Of these birds, two couples have made ​​nests. Last year a vulture couple also laid an egg, but it broke because of conflict among the birds. ”The nests were too close to each other then; now the vultures fortunately have chosen to build nests farther apart, so they do not get in each other’s way,” says biologist Raymond van der Meer.

Father and mother take turns at breeding the egg, they will also take care of the chick together. Vultures breed on average eight weeks before the chick hatches from the egg. After about four months the youngsters will be able to fly away from the nest.

Three years ago was the last time when a griffon vulture was raised in Amersfoort zoo. ” The young vultures participate in a reintroduction program, this means that the animals will be freed in the Balkans.In this way, the zoo supports the wild population,” said the biologist of DierenPark Amersfoort.

Related articles

• Eagles, vultures already building nests (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Saudi Arabia birdwatching (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
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• Rare bats winter in World War I monument (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
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• Jackal takes on a vulture¿ and WINS: Incredible moment majestic bird of prey is scared off by a desert dog (thisismoney.co.uk)
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Saudi Arabia birdwatching

By Robert Tovey:

Feb 05, 2013

On Thursday, after visiting the Kararah lake area, our birding party doubled back away towards Riyadh on the Mecca road before turning off north west. This was on route 505 according to the map but route 902 according to the road sign.

This is an occupational hazard in Saudi Arabia, road sign numbers and map numbers often don’t agree.

The aim was to use a road (route 505) on the plain which ran parallel with the Tuwaiq escarpment and to come off this road from time to time to visit the foothills of the escarpment.

Desert lark

In the back of my mind was the possibility that we might finally see two of my nemesis birds – Egyptian vulture and hooded wheatear. Both have been reported as rare around the escarpment but not reported at all in other parts of central Saudi Arabia.

Egyptian vulture is relatively common in the west and hooded wheatear in the far north west of the country but both are very rare near Riyadh.

We chose to come off the main road and head to the escarpment at Dhurma and we found an excellent side road to do so.

100 metres before the slope we had to get out and walk down a shallow wadi because the road came to an end.

It didn’t look that promising at first, only desert lark and white crowned wheatear to see.

White crowned wheatear

We noticed three dead camels which in retrospective were a clue to what happened later. At the time I didn’t think it was anything special because the whole frontage of the escarpment on the plain was scattered with camel herds and presumably the occasional carcass.

Three dead camels. Photo taken by George Darley-Doran

We stopped, watched and listened once we were close to the slopes. We could hear and see white spectacled bulbul (a.k.a yellow vented bulbul) and then we noticed a wave or two of birds of prey flying in various directions above the escarpment. The time was about 11 am and the air had warmed up making flying easier for these types of bird.

Adult steppe eagle

We were given an aerial display by four or five steppe eagle. A fan tailed raven also made an appearance.

However, I spotted a single unknown bird which returned a few minutes later as part of a group of three.

Griffon vulture

Almost unbelievably they were all griffon vulture. We came in search of Egyptian vulture and in return we saw the much less likely griffon vulture. Unfortunately, the pictures are poor as they flew high and fast but have nevertheless been verified by an expert.

Second picture of Griffon vulture

Griffon vulture hold wide territories but we also can’t rule out that they were all wintering birds. The map in the Helms guide for the Middle East does show them reaching the western side of the Tuwaiq escarpment in places as the eastern limit of their residential range. However, what I also know is they have been very rarely recorded around Riyadh.

I am pretty sure the dead carcasses seen and presumably others in the plain next to the escarpment are important factors in why we found the vultures.

Resting steppe eagle at “the edge of the world”

The rest of the day was an anti-climax. We drove on into more desolate areas but with little reward.

It had been a speculative day that is to say one where we drive into new areas with no known previous birding and so not knowing what to expect. It turned out to be worth the eight hours of relatively low key activity for the 15 minutes of great excitement.

On the way back and near sunset we stopped off on the top of the escarpment at the place known as “the edge of the world” A lone steppe eagle was perched on a pylon to greet us.

A list of Thursday’s birds has been compiled by Lou Regensmorter:

Eurasian Griffon Vulture (new to my Saudi list and species number 261) Crested lark teppe Eagle Desert Lark Common Kestrel Pale Crag Martin Laughing Dove Scrub Warbler Eurasian Collared Dove Asian Desert Warbler Namaqua Dove Desert Wheatear Pallid Swift Eastern Mourning Wheatear Hoopoe White-crowned Wheatear Little Green Bee-eater Blackstart Brown-necked Raven House Sparrow Fan-tailed Raven Spanish Sparrow White-spectacled Bulbul Tawny Pipit Greater Hoopoe Lark White Wagtail

About Robert Tovey

Dr Rob Tovey is a scientist by training and more recently an English teacher. His profession allows him to travel to some of the more difficult-to-get-to places and stay there for years if his inclination takes him. He is a keen bird watcher, blogger and amateur photographer. He has worked in Azerbaijan and Libya and is currently in Saudi Arabia. Rob also has a base in Bulgaria so overall is becoming a bit of birding specialist in very general terms where East meets West.

Peruvian condors in trouble

This video is called Earthflight (Winged Planet) – Condor’s Birds Eye View of the Andes.

From daily The Independent in Britain:

Are we seeing the last flight of the condor?

Numbers of this magnificent bird have crashed. Mitra Taj in Lima on efforts to halt the decline

Sunday 27 January 2013

The Andean condor, one of the world’s biggest flying birds, is in trouble. It may have a 10ft wingspan that enables it to ride warm air currents for hours at a time, but that has proved little protection against habitat destruction and hunting.

The bird’s numbers have fallen dramatically. So much so that a Bill is being introduced into the Peruvian congress that would start a conservation programme, declare the condor a national treasure, and set jail sentences of between three and five years for capturing or killing the birds.

It is not before time. Yuri Ortiz de Zevallos, a condor catcher for decades and now the mayor of the Cotabambas district in the region of Apurimac, is concerned about declining condor numbers. “When I was young we could see 20, 30, even 40 condors gather around when we laid out the bait,” said the 50-year-old. “Now you will see maybe five or 10.”

There are no reliable figures for how many condors live in the Peruvian Andes today, and scientists say no exhaustive studies have been carried out there. Jose Antonio Ochoa, a biologist in southern Peru who works with the Frankfurt Zoological Society, said all the anecdotal evidence suggests an alarming decline in Peru, and put the population today at no more than 500.

The condor’s survival in Peru is threatened by shrinking habitat due to development, including large mining projects in the highlands, and the trafficking of its feathers and other body parts. And since fewer livestock now get lost and die, a once-reliable supply of carrion for the bird has been reduced.

Andean condors, which can fly more than 100 miles (160km) in a single day, used to be connected all along the mountains from Argentina to Venezuela as a single population. Because fragmented groups no longer integrate, over the long term they risk heading towards a genetic bottleneck, the point at which in-breeding can result in defects or infertility.

Michael Mace, a bird specialist at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, said Peru could benefit from a captive breeding programme. In the late 1980s, the United States started a successful captive breeding programme for the California condor, a different and slightly smaller species, after the population dwindled to just 22. Now that population stands at more than 400, with more in the wild than in captivity.

Andean condors do not start reproducing until they are around five years old, and lay only one or two eggs at a time in nooks of remote canyons every other year.

Scientists at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park say they have successfully released Andean condors in other South American countries. At least 12 have been released in Venezuela, where they had been locally extinct since 1965, and 74 in Colombia, where some have already hatched offspring in the wild.

Mr Ochoa said serious research and a national conservation programme in Peru are long overdue. He and his colleagues are seeking funding for a year-long programme to conduct a census, and put tracking devices on condors to determine how many there are and how best to halt their decline.

One of the legislation’s supporters, Elmer Caceres, mayor of the province of Caylloma where donkeys are slaughtered every week to leave as food for the condors, said there might not be much time left. He said the Colca Canyon, a popular tourist destination twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, is now home to just 25 condors, a fraction of the population in years past. Some 80 per cent of the region’s visitors come to see the birds. “Condors create jobs and revenues in my community,” he said. “And they connect me to my ancestors and my culture.” (Reuters)

Related articles

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• From preservation to education (azdailysun.com)
• Three Early Recordings from Peru (excavatedshellac.com)

Lesotho vultures threatened

This video is called Adult Lammergeier.

From BirdLife:

Wind farm in Lesotho could cause the local extinction of vultures

Thu, Jan 24, 2013

Vultures, such as the Vulnerable Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres, have a higher risk of collision with wind turbines. Thus appropriate assessment of the collision risk to these species must inform the decision as to whether the site is suitable for development.

BirdLife South Africa and BirdLife International are very concerned that the proposed development of a wind farm at Letseng in Lesotho could have severe impacts on the already declining populations of Cape Vultures and Lammergeiers. South Africa and Lesotho share the responsibility of safeguarding the populations of Lammergeiers and Cape Vultures in the Lesotho Highlands and the surrounding escarpment of South Africa.

PowerNET Developments (Pty) Ltd propose to erect 42 wind turbines (each with a capacity of 850 kW) near Letšeng-La-Terae, on the north-eastern escarpment of the Drakensberg. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the proposed Letseng Wind Farm is in its final stages of completion. The avifaunal specialist report, compiled by well-respected ornithologist Dr Andrew Jenkins, indicates that even with mitigation, the anticipated impacts of the project on highly unique and sensitive avifauna will be of high to very high negative significance, rendering the project unsustainable.

While wind energy is fairly new to southern Africa, poorly located wind turbines elsewhere in the world have had significant impacts on bird populations. Impacts include loss of habitat, disturbance and mortality through collisions with the turbine blades. In Smøla, Norway, for example, wind farms caused the local population of White-tailed Eagles (also known as Sea Eagles) to plunge by 95% – reducing the number from 19 eagle pairs to only one pair.

Such devastating impacts have not occurred at all wind farms. “The considered location of wind farms is the key to ensuring that impacts on birds are kept to a minimum”, says Samantha Ralston, Birds and Renewable Energy Manager for BirdLife South Africa. Among other things, turbines should be kept well away from areas frequently used by collision-prone birds such as large-bodied raptors.

Collision-prone vultures cannot observe political boundaries

Vultures play an important ecological, economic, cultural and aesthetic role. They are scavengers and by disposing of waste and carcasses they help control populations of other disease-carrying scavengers and pests. In this way they help protect human health, as well as that of domesticated animals and wildlife.

Unfortunately, vultures appear to be particularly prone to colliding with the turbine blades. High collision rates have been observed in Griffon Vultures at wind farms in Europe, most notably in Tarifa, Spain. The Griffon Vulture is a close relative of the Cape Vulture. A recent study in Tarifa, Spain, estimated that 0.22 vulture deaths occurred per turbine per year. This was reduced by approximately half with the introduction of mitigation, but even with mitigation one can expect that for every 10 turbines at least one vulture will be killed every year.

The proposed Letseng wind farm is located in habitat that is critical for both Lammergeier and Cape Vulture, both threatened species. Lammergeier is listed as regionally Endangered and Cape Vulture as Vulnerable in South Africa. Birds do not observe political boundaries and the populations of both species span South Africa and Lesotho. A further decline of birds in Lesotho, will severely impact the viability and survival rates of the vultures in South Africa. Using population models, scientists have demonstrated that even a small increase in adult mortality could cause the rapid decline and even local extinction of these long-lived, slow-breeding birds. “BirdLife South Africa has learnt from its partners in Europe and North America that incorrectly located wind farms can cause massive mortalities of vultures and eagles”, says Mark Anderson, CEO of BirdLife South Africa. “For this reason, we will strongly oppose any wind farm developments which we believe will result in significant impacts on Lammergeier, Cape Vulture and other threatened South African birds”, he added.

Responsible sustainable development must be consultative

BirdLife South Africa fully recognises the need to move towards generating clean energy and supports the responsible development of a renewable energy infrastructure in southern Africa. BirdLife South Africa therefore encourages wind farm developers to work with them to help identify suitable sites for wind energy to minimise the impact on birds and the environment while delivering lasting sustainable development. For example, prior to siting a wind farm, a Strategic Environmental Assessment should be undertaken as this enables avoidance of areas that are known to be environmentally sensitive.

Dr Julius Arinaitwe, BirdLife International’s Regional Director for Africa says development is vital, but must progress in an environmentally sensitive manner. “Development is underpinned by healthy ecosystems and the biodiversity therein. The choices we make now must not negatively affect Africa’s ability to develop in future”, he said.

BirdLife South Africa and BirdLife International are calling on PowerNET Developments (Pty) Ltd to voluntarily withdraw the EIA application. BirdLife South Africa is also encouraging the public and partners to comment on the EIA report. Further information can be obtained from Samantha Ralston (at energy@birdlife.org.za or 083-6733948).

Related articles

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Eagles, vultures already building nests

This BBC video says about itself:

Steller’s sea eagles battle golden eagles at a lake in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.

Translated from Avifauna birds zoo in Alphen, the Netherlands:

Winter is well underway. Yet, this does not stop the Steller’s sea eagles from beginning to build their nest. Like every year the couple builds their nest in January, because at the end of this month, the eggs are expected. If all goes well, we will be able to welcome the new eaglets in March.

Also in the residence next to the Steller’s eagles, birds are working hard. The Rüppells vultures are moving nesting materials all the time. The bird wardens have already seen several matings. Last year was the first time that a Rüppells vulture chick was born and raised here. Hopefully they will manage again this year to raise offspring.

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California condor dies, killed by lead?

This video is called Flying giants–rare California condors return to Utah skies.

From Wildlife Extra:

Dead condor found in Zion National Park in Utah

Lead poisoning suspected

January 2013. The Peregrine Fund, a driving force behind the conservation of Californian condors, had been hopeful that a pair of condors in Zion National Park would produce the first offspring in the state for many years.

A Peregrine Fund spokesman said “Our hopeful pairing of adult condors 299 and 343 to be the first successful Utah pair has been hampered over the past few years by us having to treat one of them for lead poisoning during breeding season. Sadly, we have now found the adult 9-year-old female (Condor 343) dead in Zion National Park in Utah. This is a major step back from Utah’s first breeding.”

Official necropsy results are pending to determine cause of death, but this year’s trapping results show a very high rate of lead poisoning in almost all of the Utah foraging birds.

Condor population

There are just 400 Californian condors alive today, of which around 175 are in captivity. The California condor has recovered from only 22 birds left in the world in 1982 to around 400 today. The original 22 birds were captured in an effort to breed and save the species. Condors bred and raised in captivity are now periodically released at sites in California, Mexico and at the Vermilion Cliffs in Arizona.

Related articles

• Several California condors dead since September (sfgate.com)
• More Grand Canyon condors die of lead poisoning (phys.org)
• Lead threat grows for rare US birds (bbc.co.uk)
• Utah condor death toll highest in years due to lead poisoning (ksl.com)
• Oregon Zoo hatches its first California condor chick of the year (oregonlive.com)
• Lead Ammo Poisons Condors in Grand Canyon (livescience.com)
• Grand Canyon Condors Continue To Die From Lead Poisoning (naturalhistorywanderings.com)
• California condor chick doing well at San Diego Zoo (examiner.com)
• New documentary focuses on link between California Condors and lead poisoning – what’s being done to recover this endangered species (yubanet.com)
• Conservationists renew push to ban lead shot (azdailysun.com)

South Asian bird news

This video from India is called The Amur Falcon Massacre, Doyang, Nagaland from Conservation India.

BirdLife writes about this:

Help required to end hunting massacre in Nagaland, India

Thu, Nov 15, 2012

Help required to end hunting massacre in Nagaland, India

On November 1st, national online campaigning organisation Conservation India broke the shocking news of an appalling massacre of thousands of migrating Amur Falcons Falco amurensis that had recently been trapped for sale in the remote state of Nagaland in the north-east of India.

Taking advantage of the falcons’ habit of concentrating in huge numbers during their migration, local hunters have been spreading nets across vast areas of the birds’ forest roost sites, capturing them en masse and then keeping the often-injured Amurs alive, until they might be killed and sold as fresh food. The recent trapping and slaughter appears to have been taking place on an ‘industrial scale’ and unless stopped will clearly have a devastating affect on the birds’ global population at these unsustainable levels.

Please note this video that documents the massacre contains some extremely disturbing footage.

Such is the reach of today’s social media that this emotive story went viral within hours and during the next few days, news quickly spread around the world shocking all who read about the Amurs’ plight. Conservation India’s highly effective campaign has already helped galvanise local, national and international action.

The rate of population decline of resident vultures in India and Nepal has slowed, but populations remain low and vulnerable: here.

Related articles

• Migrating Amur Falcons Massacred in India: We Need to Help These People Stop Doing This! (newswatch.nationalgeographic.com)
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• Wildlife (elispiritweaver.wordpress.com)
• Indian birdwatching day (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
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Vulture fossil discovery in Nebraska, USA

This video is called Vulture restaurant.

From PLOS ONE:

A Late Miocene Accipitrid (Aves: Accipitriformes) from Nebraska and Its Implications for the Divergence of Old World Vultures

Abstract

Background

Old World vultures are likely polyphyletic, representing two subfamilies, the Aegypiinae and Gypaetinae, and some genera of the latter may be of independent origin. Evidence concerning the origin, as well as the timing of the divergence of each subfamily and even genera of the Gypaetinae has been elusive.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Compared with the Old World, the New World has an unexpectedly diverse and rich fossil component of Old World vultures. Here we describe a new accipitriform bird, Anchigyps voorhiesi gen. et sp. nov., from the Ash Hollow Formation (Upper Clarendonian, Late Miocene) of Nebraska. It represents a form close in morphology to the Old World vultures. Characteristics of its wing bones suggest it was less specialized for soaring than modern vultures. It was likely an opportunistic predator or scavenger having a grasping foot and a mandible morphologically similar to modern carrion-feeding birds.

Conclusions/Significance

The new fossil reported here is intermediate in morphology between the bulk of accipitrids and the Old World gypaetine vultures, representing a basal lineage of Accipitridae trending towards the vulturine habit, and of its Late Miocene age suggests the divergence of true gypaetine vultures, may have occurred during or slightly before the Miocene.

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