Rupis – the first Egyptian vulture caught and marked in the LIFE RUPIS project, arrived well in the wintering ground in Mali.
Rupis left the Douro on the 14th September and two weeks later arrived in the same spot in Mali where it also spent part of last winter, about 2900 km away. Rupis followed almost the same way south as last year (see map – the track far left was the northbound journey).
Rupis will spend the next months in Africa until March or April. This year Rupis – caught in 2016 as an immature bird – arrived only by the end of April back in the Douro canyon, and did not breed. Next year it will reach breeding age and might migrate earlier, in March.
The five tagged Egyptian vultures from the Douro have all migrated. The first one, Faia, on the 22nd August – Poiares was the last only one month later. Unfortunately we did not get any GPS data from Faia, Douro and Bruçó in the last weeks. It might be that they are wintering in an area where there is no cell phone reception.
Poiares is still on the move and is currently in Algeria (see map), and it looks like she is in the middle of the desert. We are curious to see where she will spend the winter, if she will stay where she is or move further south.
You can follow the movements of Egyptian vultures online here>>
