(Originally posted on January 5, 2025)

Today (January 5th) is National Bird Day, so I thought I’d highlight one of the biggest conservation success stories: The Condor.

Specifically, it was the California Condor that was pulled from the brink of extinction.  We also have the Andean Condor.  Now, California Condors had a slight boom in the late 1700’s because of human settlements having livestock, which gave them an ample food supply.  Eventually, the people started moving to other areas and hunters began taking the game that would naturally feed the condors.  Land was being taken over and eggs were being collected by people, which was decimating the condor population.

Condors were first protected in 1966 when 60 were in the wild, but it didn’t help and they dropped to 22. A recovery program began in 1979, which was controversial because people didn’t like the plan.  It was that wild condors would be captured and used in a controlled breeding program.  This could be difficult even though condors can live to 60 and are sexually mature at 6.  They are monogamous and lay only one egg at a time, which is why the egg collecting was so destructive.  Yet, there was a habit that conservationists could take advantage of.

While condors only lay one egg, they can have a second in the same breeding season if they lose the first one.  So, people would take the first chick to hand feed and have an unpaired adult to raise, which prompted the mating pair to have a second chick.  In 2021, it was also discovered that female California condors could have chicks without mating, which is called parthenogenesis.

It took a long time for the release part of the program to work, but it eventually took hold enough for the wild ones to breed.  As of this year, there are 343 free-flying condors and 217 in captivity.  The breeding program continues and is seen as a great success.

Here are some condor facts:

• They are actually vultures, which means they are scavengers.
• Condors are the largest land birds with California ones having a wingspan of 9.5 feet and Andean at 10.5.
• Condors prefer to fly in windy areas in order to glide since they are so big.
• Andean males have brown eyes and females have red.

Let’s get some pictures and videos too.

Andean Condor

Andean Condor

California Condor

California Condor