Griffon Vulture Nest - Hai-Bar Carmel, Haifa, Israel

On the edge of Haifa, in the Hai-Bar Carmel reserve on Mount Carmel, this camera looks into a griffon vulture nest box beside a vulture feeding station, where a pair of these huge birds tend their chick through the season.

This pair has a special story. Both birds had a form of rickets as nestlings, caused by a lack of calcium, which left the male unable to climb the wooden stand beside the nest. Instead of raising their own young, they foster chicks placed with them.

Griffon vultures are endangered in Israel. In June 2020, 206 birds were counted, up from 146 in 2012, mostly in the Negev and Carmel mountains. Females only start breeding at about five years old and raise one chick a year.

Did You Know? The rickets that affected this pair isn't hereditary, which means it can't be passed on to the chicks they raise.

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