Griffon Vulture Webcam in Israel

[Marbzy]

16:13 The restaurant is so busy!


16:17 The camera zooms in bringing T98 into focus:


16:18 A brand new (and still pink) ribcage has emerged to the left of T63:

[Marbzy]

16:18 The camera zooms out a bit:


16:19 Here comes Mom (bottom right):


16:19 She sits at the table (bottom left):

[Marbzy]

16:20 She gets into a quarrel with the untagged neighbour on her right:


16:21 Mom's got a very good seat indeed:


16:21 She watches on as her companion dives deep into the carcass:

[Marbzy]

16:23 The chick might be hopeful of a hefty dinner:


16:28 She still has to compete with several companions:


16:32 Dad comes to the nest with a huge crop:

[Marbzy]

16:33 It's hard to comment on the feeding as Dad's back is in the way most of the time:


16:34 Regurgitation was obvious enough, but how successful was it?


16:34 The wake is almost over:

[Marbzy]

16:34 The first course has been served:


16:38 Mom (on the left) continues to enjoy lamb:


16:40 The restaurant is about to go empty again:

[Marbzy]

16:50 Mom had been expected here:


16:50 Food for the little one comes up quickly:


16:50 And it's plentiful:

[Marbzy]

16:52 The second course is over:


16:58 T93 and Mom are back:


17:08 The chick's eager for Mom's return:

[Marbzy]

17:11 Mom (centre) inspects another carcass:


17:11 The entrails must taste really good if they're worth diving like this:


17:18 No more competition - the griffons in view could all be residents:

[Marbzy]

17:37 Mom steps out of the restaurant:


17:38 With another little object in her beak she opens her own restaurant for the chick:


17:39 More food:

[Marbzy]

17:40 The chick's a winner again:


17:40 Dinner is over:


17:41 The little one doesn't seem to have noticed:

[Marbzy]

18:22 Mom's in for a few seconds, but no food is on offer this time:


18:57 The days are getting shorter:


18:58 The restaurant's closed for the night:

[Marbzy]

20:54 Oh, yes! It has been another fat day:


22:33 Good night!


The chick is 118 days old tonight.

[Marbzy]

It's nice to see that the table is well set, but I always wonder what happened to these animals that they * ended up in the restaurant * ?

I haven't got any inside knowledge, so I can only rely on what I have read. I can't name a specific source, but I understand that carcasses supplied to feeding stations are collected from local livestock breeders based on voluntary arrangements. It is of course essential that animal remains (mainly cattle, sheep and pigs) provided to griffon vultures should be non-medicated to make sure no risk of poisoning arises. The carrion must be antibiotic-free and steroid hormone-free for the same reason.

The carcasses brought to the station are tagged - it was clear to see how Mr Miller removed the tags before depositing the sheep on the ground just yesterday. Unfortunately, I can't say where such tags originate - perhaps they identify the breeder who provides them, but perhaps they are attached following a veterinary examination which has confirmed a carcass to be fit for use at a feeding station.

I don't think any animals are killed specifically in order to be fed to vultures. As whole carcasses are delivered to the Hai-Bar station it's also clear that these animals are not killed with human consumption in mind. I suspect they just die of natural causes. But I would of course welcome a contribution to this thread from anyone who has first-hand experience of the operation of supplementary feeding stations.

[sova]

Marbzy

I haven't got any inside knowledge, so I can only rely on what I have read. I can't name a specific source, but I understand that carcasses supplied to feeding stations are collected from local livestock breeders based on voluntary arrangements. It is of course essential that animal remains (mainly cattle, sheep and pigs) provided to griffon vultures should be non-medicated to make sure no risk of poisoning arises. The carrion must be antibiotic-free and steroid hormone-free for the same reason.
...

That's clear, well, I suppose it has to be like that.

...
The carcasses brought to the station are tagged - it was clear to see how Mr Miller removed the tags before depositing the sheep on the ground just yesterday. Unfortunately, I can't say where such tags originate - perhaps they identify the breeder who provides them, but perhaps they are attached following a veterinary examination which has confirmed a carcass to be fit for use at a feeding station.
...

I saw that in your pictures and observed ... I ask because I had the feeling that the sheep were injured...but maybe it was just bad light

[Marbzy]

19 September

07:42 The nestling look ready for action:


07:45 Mom with another little gift in her beak:


07:46 Plus we've got J80 for company:

[Marbzy]

07:46 Mom's about to jump into the nest (note J80's beak):


07:46 (Mom seems to have dropped the gift onto the nest floor) J80's beak is very dark, which indicates that this vulture is an immature or sub-adult at best (I suppose if the bird was a juvenile, (s)he would still be spending a lot of time begging his/her parents - biological or foster - for food, but instead (s)he already competing quite successfully with adult griffons at the station next door):


07:46 Mom's brought water:

[Marbzy]

07:47 Lots of water:


07:47 The chick pursues the tip of Mom's beak:


07:49 Time to move on:

[Marbzy]

08:11 Dad emerges from the bushes and adopts his trademark pose:


08:11 His arrival triggers a new bout of begging...:


08:12 ... which is happily ignored by the aged parent:

[Marbzy]

08:35 Mom's back with a another treat:


08:35 The treat again ends up dumped a few centimetres short of the nestling's beak:


08:36 Mom looks back at the chick (and his/her company?) with concern:


The story of those little gifts Mom keeps bring is best summarised in a single sentence:
" It is clear that bone fragments are an essential dietary requirement, providing calcium for correct skeletal growth of griffon vulture chicks." (Richardson P.R.K., Mundy P.J. & Plug I. (1986) Bone crushing carnivores and their significance to osteodystrophy in griffon vulture chicks. Journal of Zoology, 210, 23-43; admittedly, the authors of the paper studied Cape vultures Gyps coprotheres, but this species is a very close cousin of the griffon vulture Gyps fulvus, and the finding seems to apply universally across the animal kingdom, not just to birds).