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Изследванията върху екологията и заплахите за лешоядите са изключително актуални в контекста на бързите темпове, с които техните популации намаляват и необходимостта от прилагането на ефективни мерки за опазване. Дисертационният труд представя резултати от най-мащабното на Балканския полуостров изследване на придвижванията и индивидуалните участъци при белоглави лешояди от всички възрастови групи чрез методите на GPS телеметрията. Установени са основните въздушни коридори, които лешоядите използват при търсене на храна в Източните Родопи, миграционните коридори и местата за зимуване на младите белоглави лешояди. За първи път в Европа е проведено проучване, което предоставя количествени данни за значението на площадките за подхранване за изхранване на популация на вида като е определен и хранителният му спектър. Направени са препоръки за природозащитни мерки, които целят ефективното опазване на вида в страната и по пътя на миграция., Most of the Old World vulture species have declining populations and urgent research on some aspects of their ecology and threats is needed to inform an effective conservation strategy for this highly threatened scavenger guilt. This thesis summarizes the results from the most complete GPS telemetry study of the movements and home range of the Griffon Vultures from all age classes on the Balkans. We identified the main flight corridors used between vulture’s breeding colonies and foraging areas in the Eastern Rhodopes. We studied the migration of young individuals and identified their stopover sites and wintering areas. We also studied the importance of vulture feeding stations and the availability of natural food. Based on the results we made recommendations for conservation actions.

Trabajo presentado al SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) Europe 30th Annual Meeting: Open Science for Enhanced Global Environmental Protection, celebrado Online del 3 al 7 de mayo de 2020., In some parts of Eastern Europe, vultures suffered a dramatic decline in their populations during the last century, fundamentally due to the intentional use of poisons to kill predators due to the conflicts with extensive livestock farming. Vulture species play a key ecosystem role and are valuable as biomonitoring sentinels for both human and environmental health. Currently, several reintroduction projects are being developed in the Balkan region, and it is necessary to know the potential exposure to some environmental contaminants that vultures may encounter in these reintroduction areas. The aim of this study is to determine organochlorine compounds, lead, cadmium, antibiotics and antiinflammatory drug (NSAIDs) levels in blood of vultures from Bulgaria. Blood samples of European griffons (Gyps fulvus) (N=33) and cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus) (N=45) were taken. The organochlorine compounds in blood samples were analysed by gas chromatography coupled to an electron capture detector. The analysis of heavy metals in blood samples was performed by atomic absorbance spectroscopy. The analysis of antibiotics and antiinflammatory drugs were performed in blood samples by liquid chromatography coupled to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Organochlorine compounds were present in blood samples at very low levels. Antibiotics and NSAIDs were not detected in none of the analysed blood samples. Cadmium levels in blood were low. Lead levels were elevated in some individuals, although these levels were below those compatible with clinical poisoning in birds. It is remarkable that griffon vultures showed markedly higher levels or organochlorine compounds and lead in blood than the cinereous vultures. It must be also highlighted the absence of antibiotics and the relatively low exposure to lead compared with other monitoring studies performed in Spanish vultures., Funding: Greece LIFE 14 NAT/NL/90.

The Endangered Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus congregates in communal roosts in the wintering areas and where food availability is high, where even a single threat might lead to substantial population declines. Thus, more research on the congregation sites is needed for timely detection of threats and effectively directed conservation measures. We studied bird numbers, use of roosting substrates and roosting habitat of wintering Egyptian Vultures in Ethiopia. Vultures were counted using the road-count technique in 2009, 2010 and 2013 along c. 600 km of roads in the Afar region. Over 1 000 individuals were counted each year and the sites with the highest congregations were identified. Nearly half of the birds were adults and the majority roosted on bird-safe types of electric pylons. Most of the Egyptian Vultures were found below 500 m above sea level, in bare areas, open savannas or grasslands, and their abundance was negatively related to the amount of cover of bush vegetation. The distribution of roosting birds was not affected by distance to human settlements. To avoid disasterous effects on the population of the Egyptian Vultures, we strongly recommend that the sites sheltering the highest numbers of roosting birds should be included in the Important Bird Area network, the use of poisons should be banned, and dangerous power lines should be insulated or substituted with safer types.Keywords: Africa, declining population, endangered species, roosting, scavengerOSTRICH 2014, 85(2): 139–145

Most species of Old and New World Vultures are globally threatened and accurate scientific studies related to their conservation are therefore essential. The range of available tracking and telemetry devices is becoming wider and they are performing more tasks better, as well as becoming more affordable. These changes open up opportunities to a wider community of researchers, but some of these will initially be inexperienced. Research groups on five continents have attached tracking and telemetry devices to vultures and condors using several methods, including thoracic and pelvic harnesses of various designs and patagial tags. The development of attachment techniques has mostly been conducted independently by a dispersed network of experts and rather little information has been documented and published about the relative advantages and safety of different techniques. The international conservation consortium SAVE (Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction) has identified a growing need to monitor the success of population recovery efforts by safely tagging more Gyps vultures in Asia (SAVE 2020). In addition, the IUCN Vulture Specialist Group (VSG), the Raptors MoU Raptor TAG and others had independently recognised an urgent need to identify and disseminate expertise (CMS Raptors MoU 2018). To address these needs, and under the auspices of the VSG, we invited globallyrecognised experts to participate in a three-day practical workshop at the International Centre for Birds of Prey, in Newent, United Kingdom, in August 2019. The key aims were to compare and document the various current attachment methods and to discuss ways to make the information available for wider use. At present, there is remarkably little published information of this kind with adequate practical detail, so accessible documentation of practical aspects would be an important step forward.

Disentangling individual- and population-level variation in migratory movements is necessary for understanding migration at the species level. However, very few studies have analyzed these patterns across large portions of species' distributions. We compiled a large telemetry dataset on the globally endangered egyptian vulture neophron percnopterus (94 individuals, 188 completed migratory journeys), tracked across similar to 70% of the species' global range, to analyze spatial and temporal variability of migratory movements within and among individuals and populations. We found high migratory connectivity at large spatial scales (i.e., different subpopulations showed little overlap in wintering areas), but very diffuse migratory connectivity within subpopulations, with wintering ranges up to 4,000 km apart for birds breeding in the same region and each subpopulation visiting up to 28 countries (44 in total). Additionally, egyptian vultures exhibited a high level of variability at the subpopulation level and flexibility at the individual level in basic migration parameters. Subpopulations differed significantly in travel distance and straightness of migratory movements, while differences in migration speed and duration differed as much between seasons and among individuals within subpopulations as between subpopulations. The total distances of the migrations completed by individuals from the balkans and caucasus were up to twice as long and less direct than those in western europe, and consequently were longer in duration, despite faster migration speeds. These differences appear to be largely attributable to more numerous and wider geographic barriers (water bodies) along the eastern flyway. We also found that adult spring migrations to Western europe and the balkans were longer and slower than fall migrations. We encourage further research to assess the underlying mechanisms for these differences and the extent to which environmental change could affect egyptian vulture movement ecology and population trends., Horizon 2020; European Union (European Union); LIFE+ projects; Basque Government; AG Leventis Foundation; MAVA; National Science Foundation (NSF); Christensen Fund; National Geographic Society; Whitley Fund for Nature; State Nature Reserve Dagestanskiy; Russian Raptor Research and Conservation Network; DREAL Nouvelle-Aquitaine-Fondation d'entreprises Barjane; GREFA (Grupo para la Rehabilitacion de la Fauna Autoctona y su habitat)-Endangered Species Monitoring Project; Poison Sentinels Project of WWF/Spain; La Rioja Regional Government in La Rioja; Fundacion Hazi and Diputacion Foral de Gipuzkoa within the Interreg POCTEFA-ECOGYP project in Gipuzkoa; Faruk Yalcin Zoo