close
close
hsuses

Watch a vulture chick get attacked and fall off a cliff

Theo

The attack unfolds

(Video: Birds of Prey Live)

The breeding season of large birds of prey in Israel has begun, and with it the live broadcasts of the Birds of Prey Live project. A few weeks ago, live streams began from the nests of five pairs of the endangered vultures in Israel. This week saw the biggest drama of the season: one of the vulture chicks, just 114 days old, was attacked by a foreign vulture and fell from a cliff about 100 meters high, causing serious concerns for its survival. Miraculously, the chick was found at the bottom of the ravine after about 14 hours.

Nikita Podubriyev, a ranger with the Nature and Parks Authority, along with other rangers braved the darkness of the canyon to search for the chick. “After a prolonged search, we found vulture feathers at the bottom of the canyon, some fresh and some wet, which increased our concern,” he said. “Despite carefully searching the canyon, we were unable to find the chick. At dawn, we returned to the stream and to our delight, spotted the chick in the lower part of the canyon. We watched it all day to assess its condition and see if its parents had come to feed it.”

Dr. Gilad Friedman, leader of the Birds of Prey Live project, explained that most vulture chicks fledge at 130-145 days of age, so this chick is still too young to fly on its own. “We concluded that the chick was fine, but since it had not yet decided to fly and had not yet received food from its parents – probably due to its low position in the nest – we began to worry. As night fell, we continued to observe the chick and even spotted a curious fox eyeing us several times. However, due to the size difference, the fox did not pose a real threat to the vulture. In the morning, the chick continued to wait at the foot of the cliff, and only after two days did we see it receiving food from its parents. We still fear that it might not be enough and continue to monitor the chick closely.”

The live broadcasts are part of the ninth season of the Birds of Prey Live project. These online cameras broadcast 24/7, revealing the hidden world of Israel’s large and mysterious birds of prey. Viewers are captivated by the nesting process, incubation, hunting and raising of the chicks until they successfully fledge (and even some dramatic and sad failures).

“Thanks to the project, around 30 million viewers from all over the world and tens of thousands of students in Israel tune in every year,” said Dr. Yoav Perlman, director of the Israel Ornithological Center of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. “We have documented and researched the complex biology and struggle for survival of birds of prey, and discovered facts that cannot be learned any other way. The large birds of prey in Israel, and in particular the vultures, help us to make the public aware of the importance of open spaces and biodiversity.”

Dr. Perlman added: “We hope that the chicks will grow strong and develop into impressive birds of prey that will join the young birds of 2024 and support and strengthen the vulture population, which is in great danger. Last year’s poisonings, which killed 17 vultures, only underscore the importance of strictly protecting the new generation of vultures in Israel.”

The vulture is a large diurnal bird of prey with a wingspan of up to 2.7 metres. Its long neck and large, powerful beak are well suited to eating carcasses and skinning them. The vulture’s strong and acidic stomach helps neutralise the bacteria and decay in the carrion. Due to these characteristics, the vulture plays a crucial role in the ecosystem by ‘cleaning up’ carcasses and preventing the spread of various diseases.

Ohad Tsafrir, bird ecologist at the Nature and Parks Authority, said: “The vulture is considered an endangered species in Israel and in much of its range in the eastern Mediterranean due to the deliberate poisoning of predators with pesticides. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the population of vultures nesting in Israel has declined significantly. At the time of the establishment of the State, hundreds of pairs of vultures nested in Israel. In the early 2000s, about 80 pairs nested, and the decline continued over the past 15 years. Today, the population is estimated at only about 40 nesting pairs. Therefore, the vulture conservation project in Israel has been defined as a national project, in which significant efforts are invested and which is led by the Nature and Parks Authority and other entities.”

Related Posts