Bio-logging shows a central trans-Saharan migration and unknown wintering grounds in Africa of a juvenile griffon vulture from Spain

Abstract

The delimitation of African wintering areas of the griffon vulture Gyps fulvus has been established on the basis of ring recoveries, usually from dead individuals and, to a lesser extent, by reading ring and wing marks in human-populated areas. After GPS-tracking of several juvenile griffon vultures from central Spain, we show that a female used an unknown central trans-Saharan migratory route, and spent five months in flooded savannahs and the transition zone with the Guinean forest ecoregion, moving between north-eastern Ivory Coast, northern Ghana and southern Burkina Faso. This area represents an extension of several hundred kilometres to the south and southeast of the known African range of western European griffon vultures. A field survey in Ghana on the same dates recorded no individuals of this species but four other vulture species. Future in-depth bio-logging studies are required to evaluate the migration patterns, the connectivity between the various nuclei, and its implications in the conservation of the griffon vulture and other vulture species in Africa and Europe.