Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus movements between Europe and Africa show a pattern across the Strait of Gibraltar

Abstract

The biology of the Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus is well known across its breeding range, and the species’ dispersal and movements throughout Europe are widely recorded. However, the ecology of this vulture south of the Mediterranean Sea has been overlooked, probably owing to the belief that the presence of Cinereous Vultures in North Africa derives from dispersal behaviour. Data from raptor watch records demonstrate a pattern of Cinereous Vultures flying to Africa in the autumn and returning to Europe in the spring, which does not fit with a dispersal movement. Furthermore, once in Africa, the destination of Cinereous Vultures is the Sahel Belt, where other vulture species, namely the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus and Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus, also overwinter.