Home range and habitat use of a bearded vulture Gypaetus barbatus L., 1758 along the western border of its Pyrenean distribution area

Abstract

The region of Gipuzkoa is used on a permanent basis by the bearded vulture Gypaetus barbatus L., 1758, but the colonization process is slow, apparently due to the difficulty of finding a permanent mate. This article aims to contribute to evaluating the role of Gipuzkoa, which forms the western border of the Pyrenean population of bearded vulture, in the expansion and conservation of the species. We used data from a territorial adult male which was captured and GPS-tracked. GPS data revealed a habitual home range area of 235 km2 within the Aralar mountains and its surroundings, although this bird also made “excursions” to the western-central Pyrenees, probably in search of social interactions.Our results thus suggest that Gipuzkoa presents a good foraging environment although this is offset by a poor, deficient, social environment. Consequently, compared to zones in the eastern Pyrenees, the colonization of Gipuzkoa and other regions along the west of the Pyrenees is slow, due seemingly to the very high proportion of transients and the difficulties that settled individuals experience in finding a permanent mate.

Keywords

• Avian scavengers
• GPS-tracking
• Pyrenees
• raptor conservation
• spatial ecology.