Gali, the first chick of Black Vulture born in the Pyrenees, has been ringed.

Gali durante su marcaje. Foto: Jordi Bas

The date of 16th July 2010 will be remembered as the day when the first chick of Black Vulture born in the Catalan Pyrenees (thanks to the reintroduction project) was ringed, after the species disappeared from the region a century ago.

Almost all the members of the team were present that day, when crystallized the reintroduction project of the Black Vulture in the Boumort Reserve. At 12 am we arrived to the pine holding the nest where Perla and Portell brought to life, almost 3 months ago, Gali, a surprise that even now we hardly believe. Mario climbed to the top of the tree and put Gali into a bag. Once on the ground, the chick was brought to a fresh place in order to band it and take as measures as possible. The first checking told us that Gali was completey fit (almost 5 kg). Some hundreds of pictures later, and after being banded with metall and plastic rings as well as with satellital transmitter (kindly sponsorized by Red Eléctrica de España company and fixed to Gali’s body by Victor García, an expert of the Spanish Government), Gali was brought back to the nest, together with some extra food as a gift for bothering him/her (we will have to wait for the blood test to now the sex). Thanks to the satellital transmitter we will be testimonies of Gali’s adventures, perhaps through many Iberian areas or even French colonies during the juvenile dispersion until he/she dicide to come back to the birth place, in the Catalan Pyrenees!

Mario cogiendo a Gali en el nido. Foto: Jordi Bas