The presence of the black vulture in the sky is powerful. With long dark plumage, uniform, rectilinear and almost three meters from tip to tip. Only other large birds such as the Andean condor or the traveling albatross exceed its wingspan. None other in Europe. Landed, … Other details can be guessed in its figure, such as its head stripped of grayish down and the collar of light feathers that give it that monk-like appearance that baptizes it – Aegypius monachus – or a forceful beak designed to feed on the hard parts of carrion. Its physiognomy and its role in the food chain make it a unique bird that the Rioja mountains can once again enjoy thanks to a reintroduction project promoted by the Grefa association in collaboration with the Government of La Rioja, which this year saw the birth of two chicks in Alto Najerilla.
The black vulture disappeared from the region in the middle of the last century, condemned by the human persecution that it still suffers today, and at a national level its presence was reduced to two hundred pairs in its main refuges in Extremadura and surrounding areas. After the alerts, conservation movements promoted their protection and the recovery of lost territories, among which was the Rioja mountain range. The Rehabilitation Group of Native Fauna and its Habitat (Grefa) developed the ‘Monachus’ project to return the black vulture to the Pyrenees and the Iberian System, with the first releases in the Sierra de la Demanda – Burgos and Rioja – in 2017 .
The success of this initiative materialized two years ago in the first chick that was born and took flight in La Rioja, specifically in Villavelayo, after the disappearance of the black vulture. Frodo, son of Zoroaster and Clara, was the pioneer, and since then he has traveled through northern Spain, returning home frequently. A year later, his sister Gaia was born, more adventurous, who has visited the Pyrenees peninsula in Extremadura (Monfragüe, Villuercas, Ibores…).
The reconquest of the Rioja mountains by the black vulture is now felt with five or six pairs established, of which two chicks were born this spring. One is already 75 days old and is the brother of Frodo and Gaia, the other was born a month later. The prospects for its survival are good. “When the parents are new, it is more difficult for them to succeed, but in this case, both couples have experience and that helps,” says Ana Sáez, a rancher from the Burgos town of Huerta de Arriba and head of Grefa in the area, which each day he goes up to the observation points to check that both the chick and one of the adults are in the nest. A curious detail is that both pairs are made up of a male reintroduced by Grefa to the area and an exogenous female, who, due to the call effect, has come from the south of the country, fulfilling one of the objectives sought within the project. Monachus’, the flow and exchange of birds.
Soon, from Grefa, accompanied by personnel from the Government of La Rioja, they will approach to mark the small vultures, before they take flight. «Personnel from working at height come, a specialist in placing emitters, veterinarians… At the nest, a check and analysis is done on the chicken and two rings are placed on it, one official metal one from the Ministry and another made of PVC that allows remote identification, in addition to an emitter. Some food is also left in the nest in case, at first, the parents are somewhat reluctant to return due to our presence,” explains Ana Sáez.
Ernesto Álvarez, president of Grefa, is pleased that “this year 12 chicks have survived in the entire Demanda, which is a very high number” and details that one of the purposes of marking these young birds of prey is to ” obtain all possible data: how much time they spend with their parents, when they disperse, receive notice if something happens to them, their return rate…». And the intention is to fix the vultures to the area where they were born, so that they end up returning, something common among many specimens, even those who, like Gaia, are more exploratory when they are young.
To facilitate its installation, especially for the most inexperienced, the Government of La Rioja prepared the ground from the beginning with platforms, artificial nests and food points. Ignacio Sáenz de Urturi, general directorate of Natural Environment and Landscape, also announces the intention to “extend the population to the east of the region, moving from Najerilla to the Iregua valley with the construction of four new artificial nests and a midden in “Brieva.”
The birth of the chicks is a reflection that our mountain range is recovering part of its lost biodiversity, but the main instrument to achieve this goal has been the release of black vultures, some bred in captivity and others donated to the project by other communities. Since 2017, 102 copies have been released in the Demand, an action that will also be repeated this year, “although they could stop soon, they are working very well,” says Ana Sáez. Before, the vultures spend about 9 months in an acclimatization cage in Huerta de Arriba – three kilometers from the border between Burgos and La Rioja – the nerve center of ‘Monachus’.
“The result is extremely satisfactory,” summarizes the general directorate of Natural Environment and Landscape, who emphasizes that “the importance of the black vulture is vital in ecological and ecosystem processes as a natural cleaner of corpses. “A fundamental bird for our biodiversity and fully integrated.” The black vulture returns to a region that can now boast of having –adding to the Egyptian vulture, the bearded vulture and the griffon vulture– the four scavenging birds of prey that inhabit the continent.
Four great scavengers to appreciate and care for
Griffon vulture, black vulture, Egyptian vulture and bearded vulture. The Rioja mountains are home to the four scavenging raptors, birds that share many characteristics, such as their necrophagous diet or vulnerability to the same threats. Poisoned baits represent one of the main attacks, although other human actions also endanger their survival due to the invasion of their habitats or high voltage installations and wind farms.
The one that enjoys the best health is the griffon vulture, present throughout the region, the most common to see, with special diffusion in the Cidacos and Alhama valleys, although in recent times a retreat has been observed. A decade ago, its Rioja population was estimated at over a thousand couples. For its part, the Egyptian vulture, a bird of prey with white feathers and a thin, long beak, is considered a vulnerable bird, of which in La Rioja there are around twenty pairs in different mid-mountain environments. The bearded vulture is included in the catalog of endangered species in La Rioja, where it usually passes through. It is not common for it to reproduce in the region, except for one unsuccessful case in 2022.
