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<p>Vulture populations display a rapid decline worldwide, mainly in relation to human threats. In the Northern Basque Country (Western Pyrenees, France), the Egyptian Vulture (<i>Neophron percnopterus</i>), a migratory and cliff-nesting scavenger at the northern border of its distribution area, has been faced with territory abandonment and declining breeding performance in recent decades. We examined whether local factors were involved, fitting a series of generalised linear models to abandonment vs occupancy data for 23 breeding sites, and a series of cumulative link models to breeding data for the same sites. According to our analyses, site abandonment and nest occupation by another cliff-nesting species (Griffon Vulture <i>Gyps fulvus</i>, Bearded Vulture <i>Gypaetus barbatus</i>, Golden Eagle <i>Aquila chrysaetos</i> or Peregrine Falcon <i>Falco peregrinus</i>) did not occur independently. Moreover, we found that breeding success increased with the distance to the nearest pair of Golden Eagles, and was lower in Egyptian Vulture pairs with multiple nests on the same cliff. The results obtained do not suggest any influence from the amount of rain in May–June—i.e. at the start of the chick-rearing period—,&#xa0;from touristic activities near breeding sites or from the food supplied by recycling stations.</p>

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Decline of the Egyptian Vulture in the Northern Basque Country: are interspecific interferences involved?

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月17日

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  • Michel Clouet,
  • Jean-François Gerard

摘要

Vulture populations display a rapid decline worldwide, mainly in relation to human threats. In the Northern Basque Country (Western Pyrenees, France), the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus), a migratory and cliff-nesting scavenger at the northern border of its distribution area, has been faced with territory abandonment and declining breeding performance in recent decades. We examined whether local factors were involved, fitting a series of generalised linear models to abandonment vs occupancy data for 23 breeding sites, and a series of cumulative link models to breeding data for the same sites. According to our analyses, site abandonment and nest occupation by another cliff-nesting species (Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus, Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus, Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos or Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus) did not occur independently. Moreover, we found that breeding success increased with the distance to the nearest pair of Golden Eagles, and was lower in Egyptian Vulture pairs with multiple nests on the same cliff. The results obtained do not suggest any influence from the amount of rain in May–June—i.e. at the start of the chick-rearing period—, from touristic activities near breeding sites or from the food supplied by recycling stations.