Rüppell's Vulture breeding with Griffon Vulture at two Spanish sites

New evidence suggests two cases of a Rüppell's Vulture breeding with a Griffon Vulture in Spain. In two different Griffon Vulture breeding colonies in Spain, one pair was observed copulating, and in the other, an adult Rüppell's Vulture was collecting nesting material.

Rüppell's Vulture

The Rüppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppelli) is an African species whose distribution range is located in the equatorial and eastern areas of the continent. It resembles our Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus), especially the juveniles and immature birds, being slightly smaller in size. The IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species considers it Critically Endangered, which is the last category before global extinction, due to the rapid declines of several populations across Africa.

its declining state is mostly due to the successive and frequent mass poisonings in Africa, which are driving several species of African vultures to extinction. The Vulture Multi-species Action Plan (Vulture MsAP), co-developed by us here at the Vulture Conservation Foundation, and endorsed by the Convention for Migratory Species (CMS), concludes that poison is the biggest threat to vultures worldwide, and a significant part of this global action plan for vultures focuses on the actions needed to fight this threat. Unfortunately, experts foresee a rather bleak future in the short term if poisoning events keep occurring at this rate.

Rüppell's Vulture in Europe

In consequence, Rüppell's Vultures are becoming alarmingly scarce in Africa but, surprisingly, they are increasingly seen in Europe. This is probably due to increased mixings of individuals of this species with wintering juvenile Griffon Vultures in West Africa. A percentage of Europe's growing population of Griffon Vultures winters in the Sahel zone of West Africa, where it will encounter some Rüppell's Vultures. When European Griffons start their migration north, they probably drag some African vultures with them, and with plenty of food in Europe, they are beginning to call our continent home. The species was recently added to Andalucía's list of vultures, making it Europe's 5th vulture species and one of the most threatened bird species in Spain.

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These birds are one of the rare animals that hide to mate

Besides humans, few species hide sexual activity. Arabian babblers are one such species; keeping mating private may preserve the peace.

BY JOSHUA RAPP LEARN

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 20, 2018

DESPITE THEIR NAME, Arabian babblers never kiss and tell.

In an act often thought unique to humans, these birds go out of their way to hide from other birds during their (admittedly brief) sexual encounters, according to new research.

“The dominant male and female take so much effort to conceal their communication and the mating itself,” says Yitzchak Ben-Mocha, a graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the lead author of a study published recently in Evolution and Human Behavior. “They sneak away, copulate, and come back.”

While many species of animals occasionally conceal their sexual antics, such acts usually involve subordinate or “beta” males, who have good reason to hide their trysts from more dominant and aggressive alpha males. But Ben-Mocha says Arabian babblers are the only species other than humans in which scientists have documented dominant males and females habitually conducting their affairs in private.

Ben-Mocha believes that social living is a key reason why the babblers hide their most explicit acts. Arabian babblers are cooperative breeders, meaning that while only the dominant, or “alpha,” male and female in the group typically breed, the rest of the social group pitches in with chick care by helping with feeding, defending territory, and scaring off potential predators.

Sex out in the open may bring conflict to the groups, especially if beta males try to get involved in the action. And among babblers, fights between males usually mean the eviction of the losing side. In other words, discretion may help to whitewash awkward social exchanges and maintain cooperation.

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Birds reveal the evolutionary importance of love

Date: September 14, 2015

Source: PLOS

Summary: Humans are extremely choosy when it comes to mating, only settling down after a long screening process involving nervous flirtations, awkward dates, humiliating rejections and the occasional lucky strike. But evolution is an unforgiving force -- isn't this choosiness rather a costly waste of time and energy when we should just be 'going forth and multiplying?' What, if anything, is the evolutionary point of it all? A new study may have the answer.

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