Guirre Returns to Breed in Timanfaya After Recovering from Fuerteventura

After being restored in Fuerteventura during this century, the bearded vulture has managed to establish itself in Lanzarote, where the same pair that nested in 2024 has returned to breed this season.

The Canary Islands’ bearded vulture (Neophron percnopterus majorensis) is delivering good news from Lanzarote, where it re‑established itself in 2022 after more than twenty years of absence from the Timanfaya National Park.

The Timanfaya pair has reproduced again in 2026, confirming the early stages of recovery of this emblematic Canarian bird on Lanzarote. The species had returned to the National Park in 2022, ending a two‑decade nesting gap, thanks to a recovery programme that began with the LIFE project for the bearded vulture in Fuerteventura.

Over the past two decades the Canary bearded vulture has moved from the brink of critical endangerment—just over 70 individuals—to roughly 200 birds. This population boost has allowed the species to recolonise neighboring Lanzarote.

According to a Canary Islands Government statement, the same pair that nested in 2024 has started breeding again in early January, using the same breeding territory chosen two years earlier.

The case is part of the Monitoring Programme promoted by the Directorate General for Natural Environment of the Canary Islands Government, co‑financed by the Canarias FEDER 2021‑2027 Programme and supported scientifically by the Doñana Biological Station of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

“In the first weeks of the year these birds spend most of the day selecting a breeding cave, bringing material to the nest and strengthening their bond through joint flights and frequent copulations,” explains field technician Walo Moreno, who has studied the bearded vulture in the field for fourteen years.

Incubation lasts 42 days and is one of the most delicate phases. A clutch may contain up to two eggs, shared almost equally by both parents. The first three weeks after hatching are also critical.

The Threats Still Lurking for the Bearded Vulture

Experts warn that noise, motorised vehicles, loose dogs and other human activities can cause nest abandonment, leaving eggs exposed to temperature fluctuations and predators.

Consequently, the Government urges visitors to respect signage, stay on marked trails and enjoy nature in silence, especially during the breeding season.

The bearded vulture is the only strictly scavenging raptor in the Canary avifauna. It is a subspecies endemic to the archipelago, described in 2002 and genetically and morphologically distinct from other populations.

Recovery has been especially visible in Fuerteventura, where the population has multiplied over recent decades. In Lanzarote, however, the process has been slower, underscoring the importance of this new breeding event in Timanfaya.

“This is excellent news for the Canary Islands and for the conservation of our biodiversity,” said Mariano H. Zapata, Councillor for Ecological Transition and Energy, in the official statement.