African Vultures Don’t Follow Migratory Herds: Scavenger Habitat Use Is Not Mediated by Prey Abundance

Kendall, Corinne J.; Virani, Munir Z.; Hopcraft, J. Grant C.; Bildstein, Keith L.; Rubenstein, Daniel I.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083470

Cited by 46 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…These areas are likely to be inhabited by semi‐nomadic livestock herders or resident subsistence farmers whose livestock carcasses may provide valuable and predictable food sources (Kendall et al . ). The Vulture's preference for arid and desert landscapes may also explain why we did not record any mortality on flights across the Sahara, which is a major barrier that incurs significant mortality in other species of long‐distance migrants (Strandberg et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

High juvenile mortality during migration in a declining population of a long‐distance migratory raptor

Oppel

Dobrev

Arkumarev

et al. 2015

Ibis

107

114

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Many populations of long‐distance migrants are declining and there is increasing evidence that declines may be caused by factors operating outside the breeding season. Among the four vulture species breeding in the western Palaearctic, the species showing the steepest population decline, the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, is a long‐distance migrant wintering in Africa. However, the flyways and wintering areas of the species are only known for some populations, and without knowledge of where mortality occurs, effective conservation management is not possible. We tracked 19 juvenile Egyptian Vultures from the declining breeding population on the Balkan Peninsula between 2010 and 2014 to estimate survival and identify important migratory routes and wintering areas for this species. Mortality during the first autumn migration was high (monthly survival probability 0.75) but mortality during migration was exclusively associated with suboptimal navigation. All birds from western breeding areas and three birds from central and eastern breeding areas attempted to fly south over the Mediterranean Sea, but only one in 10 birds survived this route, probably due to stronger tailwind. All eight birds using the migratory route via Turkey and the Middle East successfully completed their first autumn migration. Of 14 individual and environmental variables examined to explain why juvenile birds did or did not successfully complete their first migration, the natal origin of the bird was the most influential. We speculate that in a declining population with fewer experienced adults, an increasing proportion of juvenile birds are forced to migrate without conspecific guidance, leading to high mortality as a consequence of following sub‐optimal migratory routes. Juvenile Egyptian Vultures wintered across a vast range of the Sahel and eastern Africa, and had large movement ranges with core use areas at intermediate elevations in savannah, cropland or desert. Two birds were shot in Africa, where several significant threats exist for vultures at continental scales. Given the broad distribution of the birds and threats, effective conservation in Africa will be challenging and will require long‐term investment. We recommend that in the short term, more efficient conservation could target narrow migration corridors in southern Turkey and the Middle East, and known congregation sites in African wintering areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

High juvenile mortality during migration in a declining population of a long‐distance migratory raptor

Oppel

Dobrev

Arkumarev

et al. 2015

Ibis

107

114

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…While old world vultures rely primarily on non‐predatory causes of ungulate mortality (Houston ; Kendall et al . ), scavengers in northern ecosystems receive important subsidies from apex carnivores, including pumas (Allen et al . ) and wolves (Wilmers et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this region, vultures select areas featuring high ungulate mortality rather than abundance, which suggests that carrion predictability is the driver of vulture habitat use (Kendall et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Puma predation subsidizes an obligate scavenger in the high Andes

Perrig

Donadío

Middleton

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary The ungulate–carnivore–vulture complex is a key trophic module of many terrestrial ecosystems, but one that is globally under threat. Few have explored cross‐species dependencies in this module, and the degree to which vultures rely on trophic facilitation by apex carnivores is rarely known and almost never quantified. We investigated the importance of puma Puma concolor predation on its native camelid prey, vicuñas Vicugna vicugna and guanacos Lama guanicoe, in food provisioning for Andean condors Vultur gryphus in the high Andes of north‐western Argentina. We evaluated the origin of wild food sources through carcass surveys. We quantified condor feeding habits via foraging observations and through the analysis of pellet contents and stable isotopes from moulted feathers. Of the 102 fresh camelid carcasses we monitored, nearly all (94%) resulted from puma predation, and the majority (85%) of camelid carcasses used by condors were killed by pumas. Camelids represented 88% of the prey items identified from 183 condor pellets, and isotopic analyses of moulted feathers from 86 individuals identified via multilocus genotyping revealed that camelids and Small livestock were the most important prey items, representing 45–58% and 28–38% of condor assimilated biomass, respectively. Synthesis and applications. Our results show that puma predation plays a key role in the foraging ecology of Andean condors, and highlight the importance of predatory processes that make carrion available to scavengers. We contend that targeting the conservation of ungulate–carnivore–vulture modules, rather than a species‐specific approach, will be a more effective strategy to ensure the long‐term persistence of Andean condors and other obligate scavengers.

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“…Therefore, animals are using a significant portion of their energy for basic maintenance (Ilyin 2011). Prey mortality may be a more important driver of vulture habitat use than prey abundance and in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem different vulture species show greater use of migratory herds of wild ungulates during the dry season, when migratory-herd mortality is high (Kendall et al 2013). The production system of the Afar region is dominated by pastoralism.…”

Section: Roosting Substratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Congregations of wintering Egyptian VulturesNeophron percnopterusin Afar, Ethiopia: present status and implications for conservation

Arkumarev

Dobrev

Abebe³

et al. 2014

Ostrich

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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.

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African Vultures Don’t Follow Migratory Herds: Scavenger Habitat Use Is Not Mediated by Prey Abundance

Cited by 46 publications

References 45 publications

High juvenile mortality during migration in a declining population of a long‐distance migratory raptor

High juvenile mortality during migration in a declining population of a long‐distance migratory raptor

Puma predation subsidizes an obligate scavenger in the high Andes

Congregations of wintering Egyptian VulturesNeophron percnopterusin Afar, Ethiopia: present status and implications for conservation

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