Sergey Dereliev

Found in S Europe, the Middle East across to India, and Africa (BirdLife International 2021). Populations vary from resident to long-distance migrant. In Europe, most individuals move to the sub-Saharan belt in summer/autumn where they spend the winter; some populations from islands, like Sicily, the Balearics and the Canaries are resident (BirdLife International 2021, Di Vittorio et al. 2016). Wintering in continental Spain also documented (Morant et al. 2020).

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		6100-9000,7100
Red List categoryVU
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Egyptian Vulture

There is limited recovery data, both in Europe and, particularly, in Africa (four recoveries in Africa, only two of them south of the Sahara; all from the SW European population). Consequently, recovery data do not reflect their migration. Studies with telemetry data reveal a high degree of connectivity of populations, but not of sub-populations (Phipps et al. 2019). W European populations winter in W Africa, and E European populations winter in E Africa (BirdLife International 2021). Recovery data in Europe show either post-breeding, breeding or natal dispersal and the within-Europe movements of individuals on passage. There are no data from the E European population. Tracking data from W Europe reveal that most individuals migrate through Gibraltar en route to Aftrica. 

Recoveries by Condition for Egyptian Vulture

Most recoveries (ca. 70%) are of birds found alive, many of colour-marked birds – increasingly used in more recent years. Only two birds have been reported shot. There are only four recoveries before 1991 three found dead or sick or wounded and one with unknown fate.

Annual Movements for Egyptian Vulture

First movements after breeding start in Jul; and continue Aug-Sep, with recoveries in and around Gibraltar showing passage to Africa. Birds leave Africa from Feb (up to Mar), (García-Ripollés et al. 2010, Phipps et al. 2019) nd arrive in Europe from Mar.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Egyptian Vulture

With only four recoveries in Africa, there is little to conclude. Recoveries in Morocco in Oct and Mar reflect autumn and spring passage, a bird in W Africa in Jan was presumably wintering. A recovery in W Africa in Jun suggests an immature bird spending the summer in winter quarters. Recoveries in Europe show similar pattern for the SW/W European populations. Many are of juvenile dispersal, mostly in Jul-Aug; there is no clear direction, but movement can be over several 100 km. Other movements show a NE-SW axis, towards Gibraltar to cross to Africa, with recoveries in SW Spain from Jul onwards. Recoveries in Gibraltar in Dec/Jan may suggest wintering within the region.

Juan Arizaga

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
BirdLife International2021 . Species factsheet: Neophron percnopterus.
Di Vittorio, M., Barbera, A., Di Trapani, E., Faraone, F. P., Ciaccio, A., Sciagura, N., D’Amico, D., Giacalone, G., Zafarana, M., Grenci, S., Sarto, A.2016 . Wintering of Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) in Sicily: new data. Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica 14: 114–116
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
Morant, J., Abad-Gómez, J. M., Álvarez, T., Sánchez, Á., Zuberogoitia, I., López-López, P.2020 . Winter movement patterns of a globally endangered avian scavenger in south-western Europe. Scientific Reports 10
Phipps, W. L., López-López, P., Buechley, E. R., Oppel, S., Álvarez, E., Arkumarev, V., Bekmansurov, R., Berger-Tal, O., Bermejo, A., Bounas, A., Alanís, I. C., de la Puente, J., Dobrev, V., Duriez, O., Efrat, R., Fréchet, G., García, J., Galán, M. et al.2019 . Spatial and temporal variability in migration of a soaring raptor across three continents. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7

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