Condors deserve our respect and our best conservation efforts. Many readers know this creature in-depth, but some may not know just how fast and how high a condor can fly or how many eggs are in a clutch or the origin of the condor’s scientific name. Perhaps this lofty bird deserves a moment of our time to teach us some condor basics…and some really cool tidbits about their lifestyle.

DIET: The California Condor’s diet consists of medium and large-sized dead mammals like cattle, sheep, deer, and horses in any state of decay. Condors may travel several hundred miles in search of food.

REPRODUCTION: Condors nest in a cave or cleft among boulders on a cliff or hillside. The female will lay the single egg directly on the floor of the cave. The egg is incubated for 54 - 58 days. The young condor learns to fly in about 6 months, but will stay with its parents for several more months. The extended “childhood” of young birds prevents adult condors from breeding annually. California condors usually become sexually mature at 6 years of age.

NAME DERIVATION: The scientific name Gymnogyps californianus comes from the Greek word gymnast, meaning naked, and refers to the head; gyps is Greek for a vulture; and the Latinized word for California indicates the bird’s range. The name condor is from the Spanish word cuntur, and is the Inca name given to the Andean condor. California condors have also been called a California vulture.

Cool Facts

• California Condors are social birds and they spend a great deal of time feeding and roosting together.
• They were originally classified in the same genus as the Andean condor (V. gryphus), but, due to the Andean condor’s slightly different markings, slightly longer wings, and tendency to actually kill small animals to eat, the California condor has now been placed in its own monotypic genus.
• They have been known to fly up to speeds of 90 km/h (55 mph) and as high as 4,600 meters (15,000 ft). They prefer to roost on high perches from which they can launch without any major wing-flapping effort. Often, these birds are seen soaring near rock cliffs, using thermals to aid them in keeping aloft.
• The California Condor normally dominates other scavengers and usually does not hesitate to take a carcass away from smaller species. The exception is when a golden eagle is present. Although the condor weighs about twice as much as an eagle, the superior talons of the eagle command respect.
• The California condor lays only one egg in a brood. The young is dependent upon the parents for more than one year, and consequently condor pairs usually breed only in every other year.
• Young condors do not breed until they are six to eight years old, about the time they acquire full adult coloration.

Sometimes living free can be difficult for young condors. Nikoy was very subordinate in the condor population in Mexico. The older, more experienced birds often displaced him from perches and feeding sites. The field biologists noticed that he started to feed on the ground at night to possibly avoid the older condors. They were worried for his safety because mountain lions, bobcats, and coyotes feed at night. Also, there was a possibility that, if he didn’t get eaten, he may be a poor role model for younger birds, showing them that eating at night is an acceptable activity. So, for his and the population’s benefit, Nikoy was placed back into the socialization pen with the mentor. Sometimes a bird with social issues can “outgrow” them with extra time with the mentor or a smaller group of birds. This, unfortunately, didn’t help Nikoy and it was decided to send him back to the U.S.

Before he could be shipped back to the Wild Animal Park, he and ten other condors in Baja tested positive for lead poisoning. No birds were showing any symptoms yet, but the field biologists and veterinarians caught the lead exposure early through blood tests. The eleven condors were shipped to the Wild Animal Park to undergo chelation treatment (a medical procedure to remove the lead from the bloodstream) in November 2007. After treatment, most of the birds were sent back to the release site, but Nikoy stayed behind. In addition to the lead exposure, Nikoy also had a piece of metal lodged in his digestive tract. We found out that the metal was not lead and that he eventually expelled it on his own. Thanks to the quick work of the field crew in Mexico and the veterinary staff at the Wild Animal Park, Nikoy doesn’t seem to be suffering any long-term effects of his lead exposure!

He was known as Condor 323 when he was in the wild, but we decided to give him the in-house name of Nikoy. His name is a Chumash word that means, “to return,” since he came back to the place at which he hatched. He has been on exhibit in Condor Ridge since Jan 2008. He is the only immature condor on exhibit – his head is still colored mostly black, with pink spots; his head will be fully pink when he’s about six years old. Nikoy also still wears his wing tags that he wore in the wild – Blue 23 – on each wing. In time, he will join the captive breeding population at the Park or one of the other breeding facilities (Los Angeles Zoo, Oregon Zoo, or the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho) and his kids will hopefully fly free and STAY in the wild.

The third egg to hatch produced a condor named Sespe (say “SESS-pee”). She hatched May 25, 1983 and, at the time of her hatching, was only the 26^th condor in existence. Her parents were known as the Red Rock pair; mom is Tama (see her blog entry from April 7, 2008) and dad was a bird known as CCM (Castaic Creek Male). Sespe has spent the majority of her life at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, but from 1984 to 1992 she lived at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Sespe was paired with a male named AC-4 for ten years. She has laid 19 eggs, resulting in 14 chicks. Three of her chicks are part of the captive breeding population – 1 at the Oregon Zoo, 1 at the Wild Animal Park, and 1 at the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. Five others are flying free as part of the release program – 1 in southern California, 3 in central California, and 1 in northern Arizona.

Sespe is not currently in a breeding pair. In 2002, it was discovered that her genetic line was robust, so she and AC-4 were separated to prevent any genetic over-representation in the captive condor population. Two of Sespe’s sisters were also separated from their mates. In the future Sespe will be paired with another male to once again produce chicks to be released to the wild. For now, she is the star of the Condor Ridge exhibit at the Wild Animal Park. She lives with a male named Meymey and a juvenile male name Nikoy. Often, during the summer, Sespe will perch near the pool where she enjoys a shower from her keepers. Then, Wild Animal Park guests can truly appreciate a condor’s size when she suns herself afterward.

Next time you are at the Wild Animal Park, stop by to wish Sespe a Happy Hatchday as you witness a piece of living history of California and the Condor Recovery Program.

Coming from the wild, Tama is extremely valuable as a breeding founder bird. During her time in the Recovery Program, Tama has laid numerous eggs and successfully raised many chicks. It is important for condor chicks to have strong role models, because the youngsters pattern their behavior after adults. Tama’s experience in the wild allows her to teach her chicks how to survive once they are released.

Tama is also known for her dominant personality and the way she throws her weight around. She has built a reputation as a girl who likes her space. She never shies from conflict with other female birds, and usually comes out victorious.

Meymey hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo in 1996, but has lived at the Wild Animal Park since he was 7 months old. His parents are Sequoia (male) and UN-1 (female). Sequoia was hatched in the wild in 1984 in a nest in a Sequoia tree and then taken to the Los Angeles Zoo as a nestling. UN-1 was the first condor to lay a fertile egg in captivity in 1988 and at the Wild Animal Park.

Meymey was not released to the wild because, when he hatched, his family’s genetic line was considered underrepresented. With his rare genes, he was more important in the zoo breeding program than as a release candidate. Although he is now 12 years old, he has not yet been in a breeding pair. He has, however, been an excellent behavioral mentor to the chicks that have been sent to the wild to be released. He helps socialize the fledglings before they are sent to release sites by showing them how to interact and compete at food sites. A good bond between the members of the release cohort usually leads to a better chance of survival in the wild, and that all begins with their experience with the mentor. In the future, Meymey will be paired with a female to raise chicks of his own.

His name is a Chumash word that means, “to be soft.” If you visit the condor exhibit in Condor Ridge, Meymey is the condor wearing wing tag RED 38 on his right wing. His studbook number is 138.

Although this was a significant event, it wasn’t the first time a California condor hatched in captivity. From 1983 to 1986, the Wild Animal Park and the San Diego Zoo hatched fifteen condor chicks. So what made this sixteenth hatch any more important? The first fifteen chicks all hatched from eggs that were laid in the wild and then brought to San Diego to be artificially incubated and hatched in captivity. The sixteenth hatch marked the first time a California condor was produced in captivity!

IT BEGAN WITH AN EGG
Many people believed that once condors were removed from the wild, they wouldn’t breed in zoos. Fortunately, they were proven wrong on March 3, 1988 when a female condor named UN-1 laid the first fertile egg ever produced in captivity. UN-1 (which stands for “Unknown #1” – Biologists were unsure of her breeding history) was one of the original wild condors removed from the wild in 1985. Her mate, AC-4 (“Adult Condor #4”), was also removed from the wild in 1985. That was the first year the California Condor Recovery Team started trapping adult condors and bringing them into captivity. The reason for the trappings was that the wild condor population dropped down to only nine birds, with only one active breeding pair left. The belief was that if the condors didn’t get help through a captive breeding effort, they were in danger of going extinct. It took three years of getting to know each other, but AC-4 and UN-1 became one of the most important pairs of California condors!
Because we didn’t know how good their parenting skills were, their egg was put in an incubator and after 55 days the famous little egg began to hatch. Sixty hours after the chick pipped a hole in the shell some of the egg membranes were starting to dry out, indicating that she needed a little assistance getting out of the shell. An eight-person team of keepers and veterinarians mobilized to help her into the world and after 21 minutes of carefully picking away pieces of the shell, the chick was finally out. She was given the name Molloko (“MO-lo-ko”), which means “condor” in Maidu, a northern California Native American dialect.

A STAR IS HATCHED

Even before she finished hatching, Molloko was a star. Pictures of her egg were in newspapers everywhere. After hatch, the Zoological Society of San Diego was overwhelmed by requests for videos and pictures of her. Images of her hatch and her first feeding were broadcast on all of the major networks’ news shows. Letters of congratulations came from all over the world. Schools from Brattleboro, Vermont to Ventura, California sent drawings and “Welcome to the World” cards. Melissa Sweeney, a fourth-grader from Lippett School in Warwick, Rhode Island wished that Molloko would live for 200 years, while Amy Smith a second-grader from Ridgecrest School in Stanfield, North Carolina told Molloko to “eat a lot of mice and get strong.” For his Eagle Scout project, local Boy Scout, Jason Schmuckle, made some of the first condor puppets used to feed the newly hatched chicks to help to keep them from imprinting onto humans. The American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums bestowed upon the Zoological Society of San Diego the prestigious Edward H. Bean Award for the first captive breeding of the California condor. Not only was Molloko’s hatch a hopeful indicator to supporters and critics of the California Condor Recovery Program that breeding condors in captivity was possible, but it also became an event that rallied many people around the world to the cause of a critically endangered species. Molloko became the newest ambassador for wildlife conservation.

MOTHERLY MOLLOKO

When Molloko was two years old, she was housed with a four-year-old male condor named Nojoqui (“No-HO-wee”) with the hope that when they became mature, they would become a breeding pair. Usually, condors reach maturity at about six years of age, but Molloko, already a special and noteworthy bird, laid her first egg when she was only five years old. And to top off the good news, her first egg was fertile! This eventually hatched to produce a little female chick named Hoy (“HO-wee”). Nojoqui and Molloko were paired together for twelve years and they produced fourteen chicks. While paired with Nojoqui, Molloko laid the 100th egg in captivity as well as the earliest condor egg ever recorded! Normally, the Wild Animal Park gets its first condor egg each season in early- to mid-January. One year, Molloko surprised everybody by laying an egg December 24, 1998. No condor has ever laid an egg that early.
In 2003, based on genetic recommendations from the California Condor Recovery Team, Molloko was paired with a different male. His name is Xol-Xol ( “HOLE-hole”). Xol-Xol is another famous bird in the condor population. He was the very first condor brought into captivity under the Recovery Program when he was captured from the wild as a fledgling in 1982. They are still together as a breeding pair and, so far, have produced eight chicks.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

No one knows exactly how long a California condor can live, but the best estimate right now is 50-60 years; so Molloko is in the prime of her life at 20 years. In her life, she has laid 26 eggs, resulting in 22 chicks. She raised five of those chicks herself, while the rest were raised by keepers at the Wild Animal Park. Most of her chicks have been released to the wild and are flying free: eight are in central and southern California, four are in northern Arizona, and two are in Baja California, Mexico in the Sierra de San Pedro Martir National Park. Five more chicks live in captive breeding facilities at the Los Angeles Zoo, the Oregon Zoo, the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, and the Wild Animal Park.

Not to be outdone by their famous mother, Molloko’s kids were noteworthy as well. In 2001, one of her daughters, a bird known as Condor 111, became the first condor to hatch a chick in the wild since 1984. Since then, three more of her offspring have reproduced in the wild. Many people heard the good news in April 2007, when one of the condors released in Baja California flew north and crossed the border to fly through the Anza-Borrego desert to Lake Cuyamaca. That marked the first time a condor has flown in the skies of San Diego County in 97 years; the previous verified sighting was in 1910 at Palomar Mountain.

On release day, October 10, 2002, she was struck several times by golden eagles as she attempted to fly. Discouraged, she hid in the chaparral overnight and flew conservatively, but well, in the morning. Her nervous flight took her 12 miles (20 kilometers) to the south, where she had to be rescued 2 weeks later.

Her subsequent release the following spring went well. She was favored to be the first to breed with the dominant male W61 when she incurred a foot injury. This was possibly caused from an eagle strike since her nervous behavior made her a target whenever they were around. As a result of her injury, her social status dropped and he eventually selected a different female as a mate. She contracted lead poisoning in the fall of 2007 and was successfully treated at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. She is scheduled for re-release as soon as permits allow.

Xewe was shot at several times near Pyramid Lake in Southern California, but thankfully was not hit. She and seven others were later re-captured in 1994 because they began using power poles as perches. This dangerous habit was curtailed in condors that were released after Xewe through power pole aversion training. In captivity, she became a model mentor of young birds in pre-release pens at Ventana, Hopper, and Baja release sites. If all goes as planned, she will be released to the wild in Baja sometime in 2008.