ABSTRACT
The Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) is the only regular long-distance migrant amongst the Palaearctic vulture species. The species has a very broad distribution, with resident populations in Africa, Arabia, Southern Asia, and some islands, and migratory populations in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. Egyptian vultures generally migrate singly or in small groups and over a broad front, except where detours around major water bodies become necessary. The European population is divided into two major flyway populations and a remnant population in Italy that differ in the complexity and duration of their respective migrations. The western population, breeding in Southern France and the Iberian Peninsula, has a fairly direct migratory route across the Strait of Gibraltar to wintering areas in West Africa, a journey that usually takes 2-3 weeks and covers ~ 3.500 km. The eastern population, breeding in the Balkans and Turkey, migrates around the eastern coast of the Mediterranean towards the Red Sea, which is either bypassed near Suez in the north, or via the Bab23el-Mandeb Strait between Yemen and Djibouti, in the south. This migration route is more convoluted, usually taking 3-4 weeks and covering a distance of more than 5,000 km. This chapter presents an overview of the current knowledge, the timing of migration at major migration bottlenecks, and highlights that very little information exists about the migration strategies and routes of Egyptian vultures breeding in Central Asia.
