The supplementary feeding station that the CERM Association has been supplying since August 2025 in western Sicily thanks to the support of Rewilding Europe has an exceptional guest: a few-month-old Egyptian vulture, a precious wild individual among the very few born in Italy during last summer.
The Egyptian vulture, called Cusa because its size suggests it is a female, frequents the feeding station together with several dozen black kites and some red kites, western marsh harriers and lesser spotted eagles.
The wintering of the Egyptian vulture in Sicily is a sporadic event because the Egyptian vulture is a migratory species, which nests in Europe but winters in sub-Saharan Africa: the Italian vulture usually reaches the area between Mali and Niger at the end of summer.
The CERM Association had planned to supply the Sicilian feeding station until October but now wants to keep it operational in the coming months to support Cusa. Guaranteeing her a safe and quality source of food will help her get through the winter period, also limiting the risks she would face if she had to undertake major journeys to obtain food such as poisoning, poaching, impact with wind turbines and electrocution. In the feeding station, among other things, a sophisticated video surveillance system has recently been activated which allows us to monitor its use by the birds of prey and guarantee their tranquillity. The supplementary feeding station is active thanks to the availability of the Municipality of Campobello di Mazara (TP).
To support Cusa and the other birds of prey that frequent the feeding station, it is possible to make a donation to the CERM Endangered Raptors Centre Association from this site (Donate now) or join the fundraiser launched on the GoFundMe platform at this link: https://gofund.me/36e5c1321.
Thanks for helping!
The young Egyptian vulture who frequents the CERM feeding station
A young Egyptian vulture and black kites in the CERM feeding station
