California condor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids California condor |
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| Condor #534 soaring over the Grand Canyon, in 2006 | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Cathartidae |
| Genus: | Gymnogyps |
| Species: |
G. californianus
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| Binomial name | |
| Gymnogyps californianus (Shaw, 1797)
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| Range map of California condor:
Extant (resident) Possibly extinct |
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| Synonyms | |
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The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is a giant bird and the largest land bird in North America. It's a type of New World vulture. These amazing birds once disappeared from the wild in 1987. All the remaining wild condors were caught to protect them.
Since then, California condors have been brought back to places like northern Arizona, southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon), the coastal mountains of California, and northern Baja California in Mexico. It is the only living species of its kind, though some related ancient condors are known only from fossils. Today, the condor is still considered a critically endangered species.
California condors have mostly black feathers with white patches under their wings. Their heads are bald, and the skin color changes from gray in young birds to bright yellow and orange in adults ready to breed. With a wingspan of up to 3 meters (about 10 feet), it's the widest of any North American bird! It can weigh up to 12 kilograms (about 26 pounds).
Condors are scavengers, meaning they eat large amounts of dead animals. They are also one of the longest-living birds, often living up to 60 years.
In the 20th century, condor numbers dropped sharply. This was due to things like harmful chemicals, illegal hunting, lead poisoning, and losing their homes. A special plan by the United States government helped save them. By 1987, all 27 remaining wild condors were brought into zoos for captive breeding.
Thanks to these breeding programs at places like the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo, their numbers grew. In 1991, condors began to be released back into the wild. Their population has slowly increased, but the California condor is still one of the rarest birds in the world. By the end of 2023, the total world population was about 561 condors. In 2024, this number grew to 569. Many Native American groups in California see the condor as a very important bird in their traditional stories.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The California condor got its scientific name, Vultur californianus, from an English scientist named George Shaw in 1797. The word "condor" comes from the Quechua word kuntur, used by people in South America.
The scientific name Gymnogyps californianus tells us a bit about the bird. Gymnogyps comes from ancient Greek words meaning "naked vulture," which makes sense because of its bald head! Californianus simply means "from California," where it lives.
Scientists group animals based on their features. The California condor is a New World vulture. Even though they look and act like Old World vultures (found in Europe, Asia, and Africa), they actually evolved from different ancestors. Today, most agree they belong to their own special group called Cathartiformes.
Ancient Relatives of the Condor
Long, long ago, during the Pleistocene Ice Age, the ancestors of the California condor lived all over the Americas. Scientists have found fossils of these ancient condors in places like Florida and Peru. One extinct species, Gymnogyps amplus, was even bigger than today's California condor! It was about the same size as the Andean condor.
As the climate changed after the last ice age, these larger condors may have slowly evolved into the slightly smaller California condors we know today. The California condor is the only living member of its ancient family, making it a very special survivor.
What Does a California Condor Look Like?
Adult California condors are mostly black. They have big white patches under their wings that look like triangles. They have gray legs, an ivory-colored beak, and reddish-brown eyes. A frill of black feathers circles the bottom of their neck.
Young condors are a mottled dark brown. Their heads are blackish, and they have mottled gray under their wings instead of white.
Head and Voice
The condor's head and neck have very few feathers. This helps them stay clean when they eat. The skin on their head can change color, from yellowish to bright reddish-orange, depending on how they are feeling!
Condors don't sing like other birds. They can only make hissing or grunting sounds, which you can only hear if you are very close.
Size and Flight
California condors are huge! They have the largest wingspan of any bird in North America, reaching up to 3 meters (about 10 feet). They can weigh between 7 and 14 kilograms (15 to 31 pounds). Only the trumpeter swan is heavier and longer among native North American birds.
Because they are so big, condors can sometimes be mistaken for small airplanes when seen far away! Their feet have straight, blunt talons, which are better for walking than for grabbing things. This is different from many other birds of prey.
Where Did Condors Used to Live?
Long ago, when the first humans arrived in the Americas, California condors lived all over North America. Scientists have found condor bones in places as far away as Florida!
But after the last ice age, many large animals that condors ate died out. This caused the condor population to shrink. Five hundred years ago, condors still flew across the American Southwest and along the West Coast of the United States. Their remains have been found in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. Explorers like the Lewis and Clark Expedition even saw condors near the Columbia River in the early 1800s.
In the 1970s, special Condor Observation Sites were set up in California. These places allowed people to watch the endangered birds.
Condor Homes: Habitat
California condors live in rocky areas with shrubland, coniferous forests, and oak savannas. They often choose cliffs or large trees for their nests. These birds can travel very far, sometimes up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) in a single day, looking for food.
There are special places called condor sanctuaries, like the Sisquoc Condor Sanctuary and the Sespe Condor Sanctuary. These areas are protected because they have perfect nesting spots for condors. In 1992, a law called the Los Padres Condor Range and River Protection Act created even more protected wilderness for these birds.
Condor Life: Ecology and Behavior
California condors are amazing flyers! They have large flight muscles but mostly glide on air currents called thermals. They flap their wings to take off, but once they are high enough, they can soar for miles without flapping. They can fly up to 90 km/h (56 mph) and reach heights of 4,600 meters (15,000 feet)! They like to rest on high spots where they can easily launch into the air.
Condors can live a very long time, up to 60 years! Once they are adults, they have few natural enemies other than humans. As mentioned before, they don't make many sounds, mostly grunts and hisses.
Condors are very clean birds. They bathe often and spend hours preening their feathers. They also have a special way to cool down: they poop on their legs! This is called urohidrosis. Condors live in groups and have a clear social order, or "pecking order." This means some birds are more dominant than others, especially when it's time to eat.
Condor Reproduction and Life Cycle
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Condors start looking for a mate when they are about 6 years old. To attract a female, the male condor performs a special dance. He turns his head red, puffs out his neck feathers, and spreads his wings. If the female accepts him, they become mates for life.
They build a simple nest in caves or on cliff ledges. A female condor lays only one bluish-white egg every other year, usually between January and April. The egg is quite large, weighing about 280 grams (10 ounces). If an egg or chick is lost, the parents might lay another egg to replace it. Scientists use this behavior to help the condor population grow. They sometimes take the first egg to raise it with puppets, which encourages the parents to lay a second egg.
The eggs hatch after 53 to 60 days. Chicks are born with their eyes open and are covered in gray down feathers. They can fly after 5 to 6 months but stay with their parents for almost two years. Common ravens sometimes eat condor eggs, and golden eagles or bears can be a threat to young condors.
In 2021, scientists at the San Diego Zoo discovered something amazing! Two condor chicks hatched from unfertilized eggs. This rare event, called parthenogenesis, means the chicks had only one parent (the mother). This was the first time this had been seen in condors.
In July 2024, the Los Angeles Zoo announced a record-breaking 17 condor chicks hatched that year! They used new methods, like having one adult condor raise 2 or 3 chicks at once. All these chicks were planned to be released into the wild.
What Do Condors Eat?
Wild condors travel long distances, sometimes 250 kilometers (155 miles) a day, to find food. They are scavengers, meaning they eat dead animals. Long ago, they likely ate the carcasses of huge animals that lived during the Ice Age.
Today, they prefer to eat large dead mammals like deer, goats, sheep, horses, or cattle. They might also eat smaller animals like rabbits or coyotes, or even dead whales and California sea lions found on the coast. They rarely eat dead birds or reptiles.
Condors prefer fresh carcasses but will eat older ones if needed. They don't have a good sense of smell, so they find food by watching other scavengers like eagles and smaller vultures. Smaller vultures can't easily tear through tough hides, so condors can usually scare them away. However, bears will ignore condors, and golden eagles might fight them for food. Condors eat a lot at once, sometimes 1 to 1.5 kilograms (2 to 3 pounds) of meat, and then can go for days or even two weeks without another meal.
Saving the California Condor: Conservation Efforts
Saving the California condor has been one of the most expensive wildlife projects in U.S. history. It has cost over $35 million since World War II. A big part of the effort is catching the birds regularly to check for lead poisoning and treat them if needed.
The Recovery Plan
As the condor population kept shrinking, people started talking about a captive breeding program. Some worried that catching all the condors would change their natural behaviors forever. But the U.S. government approved the plan, and the California Condor Recovery Program began in 1979.
On Easter Sunday in 1987, the last wild condor, named AC-9, was captured. At that point, only 22 condors were left, all in captivity. The goal was to create two separate wild populations, one in California and one in Arizona, each with 150 birds.
The breeding program, led by the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Los Angeles Zoo, faced challenges because condors don't breed quickly. But biologists learned to remove the first egg from a nest and raise it with puppets. This made the parents lay another egg, helping to increase the number of chicks.
The Condor Recovery Center at Oakland Zoo also helps by treating condors that get sick from lead poisoning.
Bringing Condors Back to the Wild
In 1988, scientists did an experiment. They released captive Andean condors (a different species) in California to see if reintroduction would work. The experiment was successful, and those birds were later returned to South America.
California condors were first released back into the wild in 1991 and 1992 in California. More releases happened in Arizona near the Grand Canyon in 1996. The population is slowly growing thanks to regular releases of young condors raised in captivity.
Challenges to Condor Recovery
Many things have caused condor numbers to drop. Between 1992 and 2013, 237 condors died in the wild. The biggest cause of death for condor chicks is eating trash that their parents feed them. For older condors, lead poisoning is the main problem. This happens when they eat animal carcasses that contain lead bullet fragments.
Other past threats included illegal hunting, harmful chemicals like DDT, hitting power lines, and losing their natural homes.
Reproduction Challenges
Condors lay only one egg at a time and don't start breeding until they are about 6 years old. This slow reproduction rate makes it harder for their population to recover quickly.
Scientists are also studying how inbreeding might affect condors. They found that condors have more genetic diversity than once thought, which helps guide conservation plans.
Lead Poisoning Threat
Lead poisoning is a huge danger for condors and other animals that eat dead animals. When hunters use lead bullets, tiny pieces of lead can break off into the animal's body. Condors then eat these pieces, and the lead makes them very sick.
In California, a law passed in 2008 requires hunters to use non-lead ammunition in condor areas. This law has helped reduce lead exposure for condors and other scavengers like golden eagles. However, similar laws don't exist in all other states where condors live. Experts say that until all food sources are free from lead, lead poisoning will continue to threaten condor recovery.
Other Dangers
Sometimes, condors can die from fighting with golden eagles. Collisions with power lines also used to be a problem. Since 1994, captive-bred condors have been trained to avoid power lines, which has greatly reduced these deaths.
Trash in Nests
Condors eat dead animals and sometimes small bones. But they can't always tell the difference between small pieces of trash and bones. If they eat indigestible trash, it can block their stomachs and cause them to starve. Parent condors sometimes accidentally feed this "microtrash" to their chicks, which is a leading cause of death for young condors in the wild.
Disease
In 2023, a serious bird flu, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), affected condors in Utah and Arizona. It sadly killed 21 condors. Other sick birds received medical treatment and were released. Scientists are also testing a vaccine, and by February 2024, 94 condors had received at least one dose.
Scientists also found that about half of the condors tested had antibodies to the H5N1 bird flu strain. This means these birds were exposed to the virus and survived on their own.
Condor Population Growth
The reintroduced condors have reached important milestones. In 2003, the first condor chick successfully flew from a wild nest since 1981. In 2006, a pair of condors tried to nest in Northern California for the first time in over 100 years!
By October 2010, there were 100 wild condors in California and 73 in Arizona. In November 2011, the total number of living condors reached 394. By June 2014, the population was 439. A big moment came in 2015 when more condors were born in the wild than died! By December 2016, the total population was 446, with 276 in the wild.
Condors in Mexico
As the recovery program grew, a fifth release site was added in Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park, Baja California, Mexico. In 2007, a California condor laid an egg in Mexico for the first time in decades.
In June 2016, three chicks born at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City were flown to the park in Baja California. In 2009, another wild chick was born there and named Inyaa, meaning "Sun" in the Kiliwa language.
Expanding Their Territory
In 2014, a condor named Lupine was seen near Pescadero, California, south of San Francisco. This was exciting because it showed that younger condors are starting to explore new areas. This could mean their territory is expanding! Also in 2014, the first successful breeding in Utah was reported in Zion National Park. In May 2019, the 1,000th chick since recovery efforts began hatched in Zion. In May 2020, a California condor was seen in Sequoia National Park for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The Yurok tribe is working to bring condors back to the coastal redwoods of northern California. In 2022, birds hatched at the Oregon Zoo and the World Center for Birds of Prey were released there. One special condor, named Paaytoqin (meaning 'Come back' in Nez Perce), was brought to the site as a "mentor" to help teach the younger condors how to behave. By March 2024, 11 condors had been successfully introduced, and more were planned for release. By the end of November 2024, 18 condors had been released at this site.
Condor Watch: Citizen Science
From 2014 to 2020, a project called Condor Watch allowed people to help scientists. Volunteers looked at thousands of motion-capture images of condors online. They helped identify tagged birds and measured distances to food sources. This data helped biologists understand which birds were at risk of lead poisoning.
Condor Watch was a great example of "citizen science," where everyday people help with real research. It allowed condor fans to follow the lives of individual birds and contribute to their conservation.
Condors and Humans: A Special Relationship
Throughout history, the California condor has been very important to Native Americans. It appears in many of their traditional stories and myths.
For example, the Wiyot tribe of California believed the condor helped create humankind after a great flood. However, other tribes, like the Mono, saw the condor as a powerful, sometimes destructive, force. The Yokuts people believed the condor sometimes ate the moon, causing the lunar cycle, and its wings caused eclipses. The Chumash people tell a story that the condor was once white but turned black when it flew too close to a fire.
Condor bones and feather headdresses have been found in ancient Native American graves. Cave paintings of condors have also been discovered. Some tribes would respectfully take condor feathers to make special ceremonial clothing.
Images for kids
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Fossil of the extinct species Gymnogyps amplus from the La Brea Tar Pits.
See also
In Spanish: Cóndor californiano o Cóndor norteño para niños
 | Roy Wilkins |
 | John Lewis |
 | Linda Carol Brown |
