As part of the ongoing collaboration between Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF), Biodiversity Research and Conservation Center (BRCC) and Central Asian Vultures, the team returned to Uzbekistan in the last week of July 2026 to continue our work tagging Cinereous Vultures (Aegypius monachus). This builds on fieldwork undertaken in 2024 and 2025 and forms part of a growing long-term effort to better understand the ecology and movements of this species across Central Asia.
This year, the team travelled to a Cinereous Vulture colony in the Bukantau Mountains, a remote and rugged area in the far north of Navoi Region. Located within the Kyzylkum Desert, the landscape is characterised by sandy plateaus, low hills and secluded valleys.
In the field, we were supported by colleagues from the Uzbek Institute of Zoology, as well as Polina Smagina, who joined the team as a volunteer to gain experience in fieldwork.
The team located three active Cinereous Vulture nests, each containing a large chick weighing close to 6 kg. Cinereous Vultures typically raise just one chick per year, which is nearly fully grown at around 100 days of age.
The nesting habitat in Bukantau was particularly striking. All three nests were built on the sides of small cliffs, with the enormous structures positioned on rocky outcrops and constructed from large numbers of sticks. These cliff nests contrast with those we have observed in the Nuratau Mountains, where Cinereous Vultures nest in trees.
With careful handling, the chicks were safely retrieved from their nests and brought to the ground, where the team carried out tagging and biometric measurements. Once the work was completed, each chick was carefully returned to its nest.
In total, three Cinereous Vultures were tagged during this year’s fieldwork. This brings the number of Cinereous Vultures tagged in Uzbekistan to seven, and the total number tagged across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to 14.
The tags are already providing invaluable insights into the ecology and movements of this poorly understood species in Central Asia. Among the most important findings so far is confirmation that Cinereous Vultures in this region are migratory, with individuals travelling south to spend the winter primarily on the Indian subcontinent.
These early results highlight the value of long-term tracking programmes in revealing movements and ecological patterns that would otherwise remain unknown. However, continued monitoring and the tagging of additional birds over many years will be essential to build a sufficiently large dataset and allow robust conclusions to be drawn for conservation planning.
The work in Bukantau represents another important step in developing our understanding of Cinereous Vultures across Central Asia, and we look forward to seeing what these new tags reveal in the years ahead.
