Griffon vulture visits Vlieland island

This 3 August 2015 video, by warden Carl Zuhorn, shows a griffon vulture on a black pine tree on Vlieland island in the Netherlands. A carrion crow tries to drive the vulture away; but the big bird hardly pays any attention.

This video shows the same vulture, also on 3 August 2015, at the Vierboetsduin dune on Vlieland.

Griffon vultures are rare in the Netherlands. This individual has a yellow colour ring with number RO4. That proved that the vulture came all the way from Spain, where it had fledged last year. It had been on Texel island before going further north to Vlieland.

Vlieland warden Anke Bruin writes that the last news is that the bird was seen near Kroon’s polders on Vlieland. Maybe it will feed on dead gulls: in August, quite some young gulls die from natural causes.

In Northwest Africa, the Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) currently only breeds in Algeria, while it is most likely extinct in Morocco and in Tunisia (read: The eight vulture species of Northwest Africa). Here are some photos of a group of griffons photographed recently by Nadji Kouaci at Tikjda, Djurdjura Mountains (northern Algeria).