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.

UPDATE August 2013: the Amersfoort zoo young griffon vulture has fledged.

Related articles

• Eagles, vultures already building nests (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Saudi Arabia birdwatching (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Assessing Species Habitat Using Google Street View: A Case Study of Cliff-Nesting Vultures (plosone.org)
• Rare bats winter in World War I monument (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Lesotho vultures threatened (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Jackal takes on a vulture¿ and WINS: Incredible moment majestic bird of prey is scared off by a desert dog (thisismoney.co.uk)
• Vulture population stabilising in Moyar Valley (thehindu.com)
• Night Visitor (thebackdoorartist.com)
• (Guided) Watching Big Raptors in Arbayun Canyon (Navarra, Spain) (galileoramos.wordpress.com)
• Spooked baboons baffle Dutch zoo in Emmen (sott.net)