A BIRD of prey was found taking shelter from strong winds and heavy rain on a Costa Blanca villa terrace last Thursday.
The Egyptian vulture is a threatened species and was spotted in distress by the property owners in the Putxol area of Javea.
They called the Policia Local who then acted on advice from the Valencian wildlife recovery service.
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The vulture seemed to be in good condition but its feathers had got sodden due to the rain and therefore it could not fly.
A police officer covered the bird with a sheet, before gently picking it up and placing it in a box.
Vets from the regional government’s Bird Recovery Centre went to Javea on Friday to take the Egyptian Vulture ahead of releasing it into its natural habitat.
It had a yellow ring on it with an ID number, which is used by tracking programmes to tag and identify individuals of rare species.
The Egyptian vulture is listed as ‘vulnerable’ in Spain’s Catalogue of Threatened Species and is classified as ‘endangered’ in the Spanish Red Book of Birds.
It is a migratory species that breeds in Europe and spends the winter in sub-Saharan Africa.
It has seen a significant fall in numbers over recent years due to poisoning and electrocution in addition to hunting.
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