| Titre : | Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus and African White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus nesting at the Olifants River Private Nature Reserve, Limpopo province, South Africa |
| Auteurs : | Ara Monadjem, Auteur ; Kerri Wolter, Auteur ; Walter Neser, Auteur ; Keith Bildstein, Auteur |
| Type de document : | Article |
| Dans : | Ostrich (87(2) mai 20, 2016) |
| Article en page(s) : | 113-117 |
| Résumé : | Basic ecological information is still lacking for many species of African vultures. The Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus is known as a rare breeding resident in north-eastern South Africa. This study set out to monitor the nests of Hooded Vultures and, secondarily, White-backed Vultures Gyps africanus in the Olifants River Private Nature Reserve over two breeding seasons in 2013 and 2014. A total of 12 Hooded Vulture nests, placed mostly in the tree Diospyros mespiliformis, were found along the Olifants River, with an average inter- nest distance of 0.76 km. Nest success was estimated to be between 0.44–0.89 offspring pair−1 y−1 in 2013 and 0.50–0.67 offspring pair−1 y−1 in 2014, which are the first estimates for Hooded Vultures in South Africa. It is thought that nests of this species have been under-reported due to the fact that they are placed within or below the canopy of densely leafed trees and hence difficult to view from aerial surveys. African White-backed Vultures also bred along the Olifants River, with nests placed in clusters of up to six. Nesting density of this species ranged from about 1.0 to 1.2 nests km−1 and nests were predominantly placed in Ficus sycomorus trees. |
| En ligne : | http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2989/00306525.2016.1179690 |



