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.

Ventana Wildlife Society is the only not-for-profit organization releasing and managing condors in the wild in California. Your help is urgently needed at this time to help us overcome the setback of the fire and continue the momentum of restoring condors to their natural habitat.

As of today, our biologists have been able to track the radio signals from all but one of the 43 free-flying adult condors that VWS has surviving in the central California region. As for the newly hatched chicks, one of three wild nests was in a burned area, although we don’t yet know the fate of the chick inside. Two other nests were very near the fire but the chicks inside survived. On July 8, we were finally able to review the damages and determine that we lost all of the field pens in Big Sur for releasing the young condors along with important equipment.

Please consider making a generous gift to the Condor Emergency Fund at VWS. With your partnership, we can replace our lost equipment and supplies and support our biologists and loyal volunteers at this challenging time. In the months ahead, we will rebuild the condor release program as well as protect and maintain the health and safety of the wild flock in Big Sur. You can help us now by going to www.ventanaws.org or calling toll-free 877-897-7740 and pledging your support.

As a member, you will receive continued updates on the progress the California condors as well as our other projects to protect and restore wildlife and their habitats. It is thanks to the past generosity of our supporters and to partnerships with other dedicated organizations that visitors from all over the world now see wild condors soaring above the mountains of Big Sur. Our vision is to see this flock grow and prosper so it becomes permanent and self-sustaining – and no longer endangered.

Kelly Sorenson, Executive Director

Ventana Wildlife Society