Equipping the chick with a GPS transmitter. ©  Boumort – Alinyà Team

On the tracking carried out last June 2013 at the Reserve of Boumort, 35 different black vultures were monitored. Two of the three chicks born in 2013 were equipped with GPS transmitters.

Of the 35 total individuals tracked, 24 were birds released or born during this project. The rest are exogenous vultures: 3 from Cévennes (France) and at least 8 Iberian birds, 6 of them wearing no rings and two ringed as chicks in central Spainish mountains (one by GREFA and the other one by SEO/BirdLife). On June 10 a new record was obtained with a total of 27 black vultures seen along the day.

On the other hand, the high mobility of the five males released on March 1st (Hornos, Saler, Foix, Pouet and Grèvol), lead them to all the feeding points and best places around Boumort, stating their integration at the black vultures’ colony as well as their adaptation to the environment conditions.

On June 20, the chick of Perla and Portell and the one of Menta and Mario (adopted by Neus and Oriol) were both banded with plastic rings and equipped with GPS transmitters. They were 79 and 78 days old respectively. Both chicks were fit and healthy. The operation was carried out, like every year, thanks to the MAGRAMA banding specialist, Víctor García Matarranz, with REE as sponsorship. The banding of the third chick will be done by mid July, as this chick was born three weeks later than the two previous ones.

Mario, Menta and an exogenous Black Vulture. ©  Boumort – Alinyà Team

For further information on the project, please check the section Reintroduction of the Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus) in the Pyrenees on this website.

The reintroduction project of the Black Vulture in the Pyrenees is promoted by the Departament d’Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca, Alimentació i Medi Natural de la Generalitat de Catalunya and by the Fundació Catalunya – La Pedrera. GREFA and Trenca are involved in the assisment and implementation of the Project, toghether with the Alinyà Natural Site staff and the rangers of the NHR of Boumort. The Estació Biològica del Pallars Jussà carries out several educational actions related to the project.