Photo traps for capture knowledge about the Egyptian Vultures

01.04.2014

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Photo traps for capture knowledge about the Egyptian Vultures

The team of the LIFE + Project “The return of the Neophron” have installed for third year in Northern Bulgaria an observing camera in a niche, where a pair of Egyptian Vultures nests. Now it is time for the photo traps. Few days before the arrival of the Egyptian Vultures, we had installed photo traps in two nests in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains, as the life of one of the couples will be photographed for third year.

Two cameras have been installed in Greece, too. One of them is in Nea Santa - in the same niche, which was monitored in 2012 and 2013. We look forward to find out if the pair of Egyptian vultures will choose it again this year or it will be occupied by another species - as happened in 2012, when it was occupied by a peregrine falcon. The other camera has been installed in the Dadia National Park.

These devices give us useful information about the diet and the behaviour of the species. They help us to make the right decisions when implementing direct conservation activities, like feeding, as well as provide us information about the ecology and the biology of the species. We are witnessing the construction of the nest, laying eggs, chicks hatching and feeding. Photos from photo traps help us to study the characteristic scars of the faces of the vultures. Thus we can identify individual birds and determine whether the birds from the pair are the same as before or one of the partners is new. Photo traps are activated by movement and take a picture every 30 seconds.

To reduce the disturbance by photo traps to a minimum we have disguised the device with pebbles and wool and have set it up to shoot only during daytime.

In 2012 we had installed two photo traps and a video camera, and in 2013 - three photo traps and a HD camera were fitted.

This activities are being conducted as part of the Project “The return of the Neophron”, financed by a LIFE + program of the European Commission and the "A.G.Leventis" foundation.

Photos