Identification: The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is a medium-sized scavenger  (average biometrics: size: 55-65 cm; wingspan 155-170 cm; weight ± 2kg). The Canarian subspecies (N.p. Majorensis) is significantly larger than the nominal subspecies (N.p. percnopterus, i.e., about ± 0.5 kg heavier and wings are ± 20 cm longer, Donazar et. al 2002). In flight birds can be easily recognized by long and rectangular wings, a sharply wedged tail and a narrow pointed head. Older individuals show diagnostic plumage in black and white (Forsman, 2016). In general, three distinct plumage-types can be recognized: dark plumage (juveniles), a paler milk-coffee coloured plumage (often mottled) (immatures 2-3 years old) and adult plumage (white, > 4 years, see pictures below, click to enlarge). With close views it is possible to distinguish between 5 plumage-types (see Forsman, 2016). Exact aging according to plumage is often inaccurate because individual-specific moult patterns (M. de la Riva, pers. comm.).

Foraging:  Egyptian vultures on Fuerteventura forage solitary, or sometimes in couples. They mainly feed on small and medium-sized (vertebrate) carcasses, but also eats insects and young vertebrates and may scavenge on various kinds of litter, including vegetable matter. They are also frequent visitors of rubbish dumps. A detailed study on the diet of Egyptian vultures on Fuerteventura, based upon 523 pellets, revealed 19 different species of prey: 42,3% dead domestic mammals (96,9% goats) and 39,7% domestic birds (pigeons and chickens). Wild preys were consumed in much lower frequency (16,2%) and included small mammals, birds, insects (beetles, ants and Hemiptera) and even terrestrial molluscs (for details see Medina F.M. 1999).

Migration: As opposed to birds from continental Europe and Asia, Egyptian vultures on Fuerteventura and most other island populations are non-migratory. Very sporadically, continental migrants seem to arrive to the Eastern Canary Islands and interbreed with local birds as was demonstrated by means of genetically analyses (Agudo et al 2011). Migrants from Europe, Western and Central Asia winter predominantly in the Sahel zone (Thiollay 1989; Mundy et al. 1992). First results from GPS-studies suggest that European birds have different overwintering areas: Egyptian Vultures from Spain and France seem to mainly overwinter in Mauritania (Meyburg et al. 2004; Garcia-Ripollés et al. 2010), Italian individuals in central-east Mali (Ceccolini et al. 2009) and the wintering grounds of the Balkan population are mainly in Chad and Sudan, and occasionally in Niger, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Yemen (Meyburg et al. 2004). In the past, wintering Egyptian Vultures formed large congregations, but such groups are now rare (but see Arkumarev et al. 2014 for observations in Ethiopia).

Roosting: Egyptian vultures roost communally throughout its entire range, often in trees (Ceballos and Donázar 1990) and near easy accesible food resources (e.g., Donázar et al. 1996). In areas without trees, such as Fuerteventura, they typically use electricity pylons for roosting, which determines that accidents in power lines are the main cause of non-natural mortality (Donázar et al. 2002) as occur in other arid African regions (Levy and Mendelsohn 1989, Angelov et. al 2012, Arkumarev et al. 2014). On the picture on the left, note the juvenile bird roosting underneath the other birds. The plumage of these subordinate birds is often covered with bird droppings, indicating that position in the roost may incur costs in terms of reduced feather quality.

Mating system: In most populations individuals engage in monogamous relationships and form long-term pair bonds. However, Canarian Egyptian vultures frequently form same-nest polygynous and polyandrous trios. The occurrence of both types of trios in the same population has not previously been described in other vulture species. More details about their reproductive behaviour can be found here.

Breeding: Nests are built on ledges or in caves on steep cliffs. In the past, when population numbers were much higher, nesting locations may have been more close to human areas. A record of a pair having a nest on the ground on Fuerteventura (Gangoso and Palacios 2005), indicates that under some conditions they may be highly flexible in their choice of breeding location. They usually lay two egg, on Fuerteventura often only one, between March and April. Fledgling of young occurs in June/July. On mainland Spain, parents provide care to their young for 9-34 days after fledging, during which they sometimes move to specific feeding sites (Donázar and Ceballos 1994). Interestingly, on Fuerteventura, parents do not provide post-fledging care, more detail can be found here.

Species-specific behaviours

Tool-use: Egyptian vultures are among the few bird species that have been observed manipulating objects to use as tools to exploit food resources. Well-known is their use of stones to break the eggs of Ostriches (Struthio carnelus)(Lawick-Goodall and van Lawick (1966). Although this behaviour was first described in Egyptian vultures living in the Serengeti region, further observations revealed similar egg-breaking behaviour in areas without Ostriches. In fact, even captive birds are capable of picking up stones to break eggs, indicating this to be an innate behaviour. Interestingly, recently a pair of Egyptian vultures was observed using stones to break the egg of an Griffon vulture in Northern Spain (Barcell M. et al.  2015), indicating this behaviour to be a relevant aspect of  their foraging behaviour.

Coprophagy: Another peculiar behaviour of Egyptian vultures is their habit of coprophagy, which gives them the Spanish names of “churretero” and “moñiguero”, meaning “dung-eater”. The consumption of faeces is very uncommon among birds, most likely because these substances have very low nutritional value (Negro et al. 2002) and often contain  parasites (Hutchings et al. 2001). However, some faeces may contain high levels of carotenoids, particularly those from ungulates grazing on fresh green pastures. In addition, Egyptian vultures are among the few Old World vulture species displaying a brightly ornamented facial skin, which is yellow-coloured by carotenoid pigments. Experimental work by Negro et al. (2002) indeed showed that access to carotenoid-rich feces influenced the expression of the yellow face, indicating that the habit of eating feces has evolved in function of cosmetic purposes. Apart from this, vultures are often found to feed on human feces, which provide an important service to humans living in villages without sewage systems by reducing the risk of infectious disease transmission (Gangoso et al. 2012).

Mud bathing: We recently discovered that Canarian Egyptian Vultures deliberately paint feathers with red soil through mud bathing. More details about this behaviour can be found here, and for photo material click here.

---

References

Agudo R., Alcaide M., Rico C., Lemus J.A., Blanco G., Hiraldo F., Donázar J.A. (2011) Major histocompatibility complex variation in insular populations of the Egyptian vulture: inferences about the role of genetic drift and selection. Molecular Ecology 20:2329-2340.

Arkumarev V., Dobrev V., Abebe Y.D., Popgeorgiev G., Nikolov S.C. (2014) Congregations of wintering Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus in Afar, Ethiopia: present status and implications for conservation. Ostrich  85: 139–145

Angelov I, Hashim I, Oppel S. (2012) Persistent electrocution mortality of Egyptian vultures Neophron percnopterus over 28 years in East Africa. Bird Conservation International 23: 1–6.

Barcell M., Benítez J.R., Solera F., Román B., Donázar J.A. (2015) Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) uses stone-throwing to break into a Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) egg. Journal of  Raptor Research 49:521-522

Carrete M., Donázar J.A ., Margalida A., Bertran J. (2006) Linking ecology, behaviour and conservation: does habitat saturation change the mating system of bearded vultures? Biology Letters 2:624–627

Ceballos O, Donázar J.A. (1990) Roost tree characteristics, food habits and seasonal abundance of roosting Egyptian Vultures in northern Spain. Journal of Raptor Research 24: 19–25.

Ceccolini G, Cenerini A, Aebischer A. (2009) Migration and wintering of released Italian Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus. First results. Avocetta 33: 71–74.

Donázar J. A., Ceballos O. (1989) Post-fledging dependence period and development of flight and foraging behaviour in the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus. Ardea 78 (3): 387–394

Donázar, J. A., Ceballos O.,  Tella J. L. (1994) Copulation behaviour in the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus. Bird Study 41: 37–41

Donázar J.A., Ceballos O, Tella J.L. (1996) Communal roosts of Egyptian Vultures (Neophron percnopterus): dynamics and implications for the species conservation. In: Muntaner J, Mayol J (eds), Biology and conservation of Mediterranean raptors. Madrid: SEO BirdLife. pp 190–201.

Donázar J.A., Palacios C.J., Gangoso L., Ceballos O., Gonzalez M.J. Hiraldo F. (2002) Conservation status and limiting factors in the endangered population of Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) in the Canary Islands. Biological Conservation 107:89-97.

Donázar J.A. , Negro J.J., Palacios C.J. Gangoso L. (2002) Description of a new subspecies of the Egyptian vulture (Accipitridae: Neophron percnopterus) from the Canary Islands. Journal of Rapror Research 36: 17-23

Forsman D. (2016) The raptors of Europe and the Middle East

Gangoso L., Palacios, C.J. (2005) Ground nesting by Egyptian Vultures (Neophron percnopterus) in the Canary Islands.  Journal of Raptor Research 39: 186-187.

Gangoso L., Agudo R., Anadon J.D., de la Riva M., Suleyman A.S., Porter R., Donázar J.A. (2013) Reinventing mutualism between humans and wild fauna: insights from vultures as ecosystem services providers. Conservation Letters 6:172-179

García-Ripollés C, López-López P, Urios V. (2010) First description of migration and wintering of adult Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus tracked by GPS satellite telemetry. Bird Study 57:261–265.

Hutchings M.R, Gordon I.J, Kyriazakis I, Jackson F. (2001) Herbivore avoidance of faeces-contaminated patches leads to a trade-off between intake rate of forage and parasitism in subsequent foraging decisions. Animal Behaviour 62:955–964.

Lawick-Goodall, van Lawick (1966) Use of tools by Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus. Nature 212: 1468-1469.

Levy N., Mendelssohn H. (1989) Egyptian vultures: feeding behavior. Israel Land and Nature 14: 126–131.

Medina F.M. (1999) Alimentación del alimoche, Neophron percnopterus (L.), en Fuerteventura, islas Canarias (Aves, Accipitridae). Vieraea 27:77-86.

Meyburg B-U, Gallardo M, Meyburg C, Dimitrova E. (2004) Migrations and sojourn in Africa of Egyptian Vultures (Neophron percnopterus) tracked by satellite. Journal of Ornithology 145: 273–280.

Mundy PJ, Butchart D, Ledger J, Piper S. (1992) The vultures of Africa. Randburg: Acorn Books.

Negro J.J., Grande J.M., Tella J.L., Garrido J., Hornero D., Donázar J.A., Sanchez-Zapata J.A., Benítez J.R., Barcell M. (2002) An unusual source of essential carotenoids. Nature 416:807

Thiollay J.M. (1989) Distribution and ecology of Palearctic birds of prey wintering in West and Central Africa. In: Meyburg B-U, Chancellor RD (eds), Raptors in the modern world. Berlin: World Working Group on Birds of Prey. pp 95–107