VAGRANT SPECIES DIARY
Egyptian vulture, Co Roscommon
Following sightings in Lincolnshire in May 2021 and the Isles of Scilly a month later, an adult Egyptian vulture eventually resurfaced in Ireland during the winter. Known to be nomadic and unpredictable, and having been missing for months, the bird was eventually rediscovered settled in County Roscommon Ireland, roosting in an innocuous-looking belt of trees and visiting a nearby sheep carcass for food.
The species has occurred in Britain on a few occasions, sometimes as an escapee from captivity. The last Egyptian vulture believed likely to have been wild was seen in the 19th century, as adjudicated by the British Birds Rarities Committee, which looks at clues such as behaviour, age, location, condition, weather and established vagrancy patterns to establish a bird’s likely origin.
Could this recent example be the first wild individual seen in Britain and Ireland in over 150 years? There’s little to suggest captive origin, apart from its apparent lack of migratory urge perhaps – it didn’t fly south for the winter, as most northern populations do. But many wandering vultures in Europe originate from reintroduction projects in places like the Alps.
Two bearded vultures recently seen in the UK appear to have come from such projects, and the same could be true of the Egyptian, which is found across southern Europe and Africa. With vultures seen here in four of the past seven years, it does suggest something might be happening as a result of these projects. And with reintroduced sea eagles now roaming southern Britain, we can expect some pretty mighty shadows sweeping our countryside in years to come.