#241

Nestflix is footage from a camera installed on a Bearded Vulture nest located in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa, at an elevation of approximately 2000 meters.
The Bearded Vulture is a Critically Endangered raptor in southern Africa, with a population of only around 350 individuals.
The Bearded Vulture Recovery Programme implements conservation measures to reduce mortality and increase breeding success in the wild, and also works to establish a captive breeding programme to supplement the wild population.

Adult birds – Bearded Vultures are not sexually dimorphic (there are no obvious differences between male and female).
In this pair, the female has been identified by the greater amount of black above the beak.
The orange chest coloration is primarily due to bathing in mud rich in iron oxide.

Nest building – Nests are prepared early in the breeding season. They are large and made mostly of sticks, lined with soft materials such as grass and wool collected from carcasses.

Parental care – Both parents participate in incubation and chick rearing.

Incubation and hatching – The female laid two eggs on 17 and 23 June 2025, with an incubation period of about 55 days for each.
The first egg was expected to hatch around 10 August, but it did not hatch.
The second egg hatched on 17 August.
At this stage, it is not known what the adults will do with the remaining egg.

Feeding – For the first few weeks, the parents prepare small pieces of meat for the chick.
The chick receives enough moisture from the meat and from the saliva of the adults.
The adults do not regurgitate food for the chick.
As the chick grows, the parents begin feeding it small bones, gradually increasing the size.
Bearded Vultures are the only animals whose diet consists primarily of bone, which they swallow whole and digest with their powerful stomach acid.
They are obligate scavengers, feeding on carcasses found in the surrounding nature reserve and farmlands.
There are also several supplementary feeding sites nearby that are provisioned regularly.

Naming – A naming competition will be held in a few weeks.
Please start thinking about your name submissions.

Marking – This chick will not be marked (e.g., with leg rings), in order to minimize disturbance at the nest.
Patagial tags are not desirable for this species, and the legs are heavily feathered, making rings difficult to see.
Given the rugged and remote terrain, and the limited number of observers likely to encounter a flying or feeding bird (or find a marked carcass), the value of marking this species is limited.

Fledging – The chick is expected to fledge between 100 and 130 days after hatching.
This means fledging is anticipated around mid-December.
After fledging, the chick will remain near the nest for several more months before dispersing completely.

Camera installation – A video showing the camera installation at the start of Season 1 is available on the Birdontheedge.org website, where you can also see the panoramic view from the nest.
Videos from Season 1 are available on YouTube (this site).
The Bearded Vulture pair successfully fledged a chick (named ‘Hope’) in December of Season 1.
While preparing for its first flight, the chick knocked the camera, and the nest view became unclear.
The camera was replaced and repositioned in March 2025 in preparation for Season 2.
We are extremely grateful to Afraceuticals, a South African-based company, for funding Season 2 of Nestflix.

Bearded Vulture Breeding Programme – The parents will only raise one chick.
This means that the second chick will either die from aggression by the older sibling or will not receive food and perish.
A captive breeding programme has been established to harvest eggs from the wild.
A total of 26 individuals have been raised from eggs harvested between 2015 and 2024.
No harvesting is taking place in 2025 throughout the species’ range. Harvesting is expected to resume in 2026.

For more information and to contact us, please visit:
www.projectvulture.org.za
Email: [email protected]

You can also watch summary videos about the Bearded Vulture Recovery Programme on this channel:
• Bearded Vulture Recove…
• Bearded Vulture Recove…

Thank you for your interest and support.

Video courtesy of Nestflix
   / @bvrecoveryprogramme  

https://www.birdontheedge.org.
  / indlovu-aerial-trust  
https://www.birdontheedge.org/nestcam...

🎞Video Capture & Editing by @BirdParenting
   • 🇿🇦🦅Bearded Vulture Nest 2025  

I would like to express our respect and gratitude to "Nestflix" for providing us with such a precious and wonderful scene live❤️

🍀🪺Thank you for watching🐣🍀