A few weeks after Douro and Faia made it all the way up from Mali to the Douro canyon, and after Poiares also showed up unexpectedly, we had another great surprise – RUPIS reappeared in the Douro valley.
Rupis was the first Egyptian vulture which was captured and tagged in 2016 within the LIFE RUPIS project and we already have information from his 4 travels between the Douro valley and sub-Saharan Africa where he spent both winters (2016-2017 and 2017.2018). Rupis, a subadult, hasn´t bred yet, but this year it is old enough, so we are curious to see if and where in the Douro valley it will settle for breeding.
Douro arrived already more than a month ago in Portugal and Faia arrived about 3 weeks ago. Unfortunately we still don’t have any news from Bruçó – the only remaining bird tagged in the LIFE RUPIS project for which we do not have data from his tag. Our hopes are still up that once he arrives in place with better GSM coverage he will send data.
In contrast, Sara, a captive-bred Egyptian vulture released in 2015 in Italy, seems to be spending her third summer in Africa. Last year Sara moved to Algeria and Tunisia during summer and then back to Niger for winter (see map).
You can follow all these movements, and check the birds whereabouts on a daily basis, in our online maps.
