This year saw the start of another new venture for the BVCF, with the installation of a permanent webcam above a Black Vulture nest in the mountains of Mallorca. It is the first project of its kind in Mallorca, and the first in the world for the Eurasian Black Vulture. The camera captures images from the nest during daylight hours, every day of the year, and gives us an intimate view of the vultures' breeding cycle.
The project is carried out with the funding and cooperation of Balearic's Ministry of the Environment, whose website http://dgcapea.caib.es/pe/niu_voltor.htm also features a selection of videos from the nest. Live images are also transmitted to the Ca s'Amitger museum in Lluc, where they form a part of its environmentally themed exhibition.
This year's breeding season is now over, until next February. A chick was born, but unfortunately it did not survive its first days. We hope that the nest will be occupied again next year. In the meantime, we have a selection of video highlights from this year.
Intruders in the Nest
December 2006: The first stage in the vultures' breeding is the search for or the construction of a nest. This nest was used successfully for breeding last year, and this year it is the same reproductive pair that has returned to use it again. However, there is often competition for already existing nests, and intruders are not uncommon. Here we can see a new reproductive pair which has taken over the nest, but is promptly seen off by the arrival of its original occupants. Our vultures are now ready to begin breeding once more.
Copulation
December 2006: Now that our vultures have settled in the nest, the time has come to begin breeding. They will mate several times before an egg is laid. Black Vultures are strictly monogamous birds, and they will also mate several times after the egg is laid. Here you can also see the birds using twigs and branches to prepare the nest for the coming incubation period.
Vultures Together in the Nest
January 2007: Once a Black Vulture pair has mated, they will stay together for their entire lives. A very strong bond exists between two mated vultures, which is evident in their social interaction. Here we have the vultures together in the nest, touching beaks with each other as a gesture of greeting, and demonstrating the closeness which exists between them.
Caring for the New Egg
February 22, 2007: Our vultures´ mating has proved successful, and this year's egg has been laid during the night. For the next 54 - 56 days, it will be constantly incubated and watched over by its parents. At the beginning of the breeding season, both vultures shed feathers from their underbellies, so as to transmit heat from their bodies more effectively. The egg is rotated periodically, to ensure that the entire egg is kept sufficiently warm throughout the incubation.
Improving the Nest
March/April 2007: During all stages of the breeding period, whilst one vulture is incubating, the other will be out searching for food, and for materials to make the nest stronger and more comfortable. Here we can see one of the pair returning with a beak full of twigs and grass, and arranging them in the nest while the other incubates the egg.
Sharing Parental Responsibility
March/April 2007: The duty of caring for their young is shared by both the male and female Black Vulture. While one is out searching for food, the other will stay in the nest to incubate the egg, until its partner returns and takes over the incubation duties. This changeover occurs several times each day, during the incubation period, and also after the chick has hatched.
Attack of the Crows
March/April 2007: Adult vultures have no natural predators, but their eggs and young are very vulnerable to theft by the crows with whom they share their habitat. The crows will invade the nest, even when it is guarded by a full-sized adult vulture. What we see here is an example of the kind of invasion which occurs several times during the breeding period.
The Chick's first day
April 17, 2007: The new vulture has hatched during the night, after 55 days of incubation. From now on, nearly all of our vultures' time will be devoted to caring for their chick: feeding, guarding it from predators, keeping it warm or providing it with shadow. The young bird will receive constant care for the first two months of its life, and it will be ready to leave the nest after 95-110 days.
Vultures Alone in the Rain
April 28, 2007: This year's breeding season has taken a sad turn of events. After only ten days, the new vulture has died, leaving our birds alone. The remains of the chick have been eaten during the night, either by crows or by the vultures themselves. This season has proved unsuccessful for them, but they will occasionally return to the nest throughout the year, and it will hopefully be used again for breeding at the beginning of next year, this time with more success.