Bearded vulture in Europe – summary of the 2015 breeding season

Bearded vulture in Europe – summary of the 2015 breeding season

Now that the bearded vultures are busy breeding in the European mountains, here´s a summary of last year´s definite data for our continent. In total there were 212-217 bearded vultures breeding pairs across 5 mountain ranges – these produced 77 young last year. Remarkable was the first young ever fledged in Andalusia after extinction there in the mid-80s, a direct result of the ongoing reintroduction project coordinated by the Junta de Andalucía, with the VCF.

The Pyrenean population is distributed as follows: 77-82 pairs in Aragon (26 young), 41 pairs in Catalonia (14 young), 40 pairs in France (9 young), 7 pairs Navarra (3 young) and 1 pair Andorra (no young).

In Corsica none of the 5 breeding pairs produced young last year, while the 7 breeding pairs in Crete fledged 4 young bearded vultures. The breeding success was again much better in the Alps – where the population is actively growing – then in the Pyrenees, which has shown declining breeding parameters.

Provisional data for this year suggest that the French Pyrenean population has increased – four new pairs have been established, but two others disappeared. The number of trios in the French Pyrenees is also increasing. As for the Alps, preliminary data suggest there are now 37-38 breeding pairs, with up to 6-8 new pairs established this year in the French, Italian and Swiss Alps – great news. Watch this space for details later!