Qualifies for the list as a Red List Species

Photo: USFWS

Primarily dependent on large mammalian carcasses, the California Condor is the largest vulture, with a wingspread of 2.8 m and a weight of 8.5 kg. It soars above a vast home range and covers great distances during its daily activities. It is a social bird in its feeding behaviour and associates in communal roosts, both during nesting and foraging. The birds do not reach sexual maturity until age 6 and it lays only a single egg each year; by 1987 excessive mortality due to poisoning and shooting had virtually extirpated the bird in the wild so that the decision was made to capture the remaining individuals; the only condors left alive at that point were at the San Diego and Los Angeles Zoos.

Successful efforts to breed the bird in captivity have added considerably to its numbers and since 1992 there have been attempts to reintroduce it into the wild. As yet this has not resulted in viable populations, in part due to the continuing threat of lead poisoning. In the early 19th Century the bird ranged as far north as British Columbia but by the mid-20th Century it was confined to southern California. At present it exists outside captivity only at the reintroduction sites in California north of Los Angeles and in the Grand Canyon area of Arizona.

The primary threat to the bird during nesting is predation on the eggs by ravens while Golden Eagles are threats to the nestlings. Besides lead poisoning, a major threat to the bird is collisions with overhead wires. The reintroduced populations are the subjects of intensive study and monitoring.