Last year was a milestone for the 14 year old recovery program: for the first time more wild condors were born (14) than died (12). In 1987, the 27 remaining wild California condors were taken into captivity and a program was begun to save the species. The first captive bred condors were released in 1991. Now 268 live in the wild distributed among northern Baja, central, and southern California; northern Arizona; and southern Utah.
The first Pinnacles condors in the re-introduction program were bred in captivity and released twelve years ago. Although six eggs have been laid by Pinnacles’ condors, not all hatched. And of those that hatched some were eaten by ravens, while one survived but had a broken wing and now lives in the Los Angeles Zoo.
The father of the newly fledged chick is a rock star who quickly became an important leader of the Pinnacles flock. He hatched in 2004 at the Oregon Zoo. The honor of naming #40 was given to Chief Nelson Wallulutum of the Wasco tribe who chose the name Kun-Wac-Shun, meaning Thunder and Lightning. He was released in 2005. Immediately he was feisty, expanding his range and leading others to new areas. He courted a Ventana Wildlife Society (VWS) female #44 in 2013, who died of lead poisoning in 2014. Thunder and Lightning found a new mate in VWS condor #236 and they are now raising chick #828. The mother is nicknamed Tiny and was hand raised at the San Diego Zoo using a leather condor head puppet. She is healthy, but a few pounds lighter and smaller than normal.
Successful re-introduction and a self-sustaining population can’t rely on captive breeding and release. It requires condors to hatch and fledge in the wild, although most of the current wild population was born in captivity. One year ago in Condor Grrrl Video, I wrote about my view of the last wild condors before they were taken into captivity and reported on two female condors. They raised a chick in 2015 after the suspected male mate of one female died. Papas usually are the primary teachers of fledglings as they learn to fly, find food, and be wild condors. Photos, live cams and other info about that chick (Princess #799) and other condors of VWS, Big Sur, and Pinnacles are available at My Condor.
Condor #20 in the first photo (above) was raised in captivity and released last year south of Pinnacles at Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge. Located in Los Padres National Forest northeast of Santa Barbara, Bitter Creek is the main release site for the southern California condor sub-population. The refuge (closed to the public) is a former cattle ranch slated for subdivision. Instead, it was purchased by USFWS in 1985 to preserve essential foraging and roosting habitat for condors and other threatened species.
The California condor recovery project works out of the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex (more info on condors at that link) and oversees three wildlife refuges created for condors: Hopper Mountain, Bitter Creek, and Blue Ridge. On their Facebook page, The Condor Cave, they released an update this week, including a map of the extensive area #20 and his flock call their own. Condor #20 is a techie who wears a transmitter.
Since his release, #20 has spent a fair amount of time in his historic natal territory of the Santa Barbara back country. More recently he has joined the flock in forays north of the Tehachapi Mountains; in fact just this past week he flew as far north as Lake Isabella before turning around to go back to his historic haunts. We'll be looking out to see if any of the available females in the flock shows interest in pairing up with him with the hope of a nest this coming season!
The main threat to condors, besides predation on eggs and chicks, is from human activities. Condors are one of the longest-living birds in North American with a lifespan of 60 years but few survive that long. They are a type of vulture and eat dead animals, including sea mammals.
Terrestrial wild mammals like deer can be lethal if shot with lead ammunition. Condors seek hard bits from their dead critter dinners, which is thought to be an important source of calcium as those hard bits used to be only bones. Since humans began shooting animals, those hard bits often are pieces of lead ammunition, one main reason for the condor’s near-extinction, and a continuing threat. California banned lead ammo in condor territory in 2008 and a statewide ban takes effect in 2019. A ban reduces but doesn’t eliminate the use of lead ammo because California has the first, and so far the only, state ban in the country, .
Although not often shot with lead ammo, marine mammals, too, may be unsafe due to high levels of pesticides and other contaminants. Condors can fly over a 100 miles in one flight, and they forage up to 150 miles a day. All California subpopulations are within range of the ocean and marine mammal carcasses.
[Researchers] found that coastal condors had 12- to 100-fold greater mean plasma concentrations of mercury, chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) than noncoastal populations.
Although the use of the pesticide DDT has been banned in the United States since 1972, the scientists found elevated levels of a highly persistent metabolite of DDT known as DDE in coastal condors as well as in marine mammals.
A combination of habitat protection across their territories, ban on lead ammo, and encouraging ranchers to leave downed cattle available as prey supports condor populations. Collisions with power lines has been another threat. Part of the recovery program involves training captive bred chicks to avoid power lines.
This training involves the use of a mock power pole placed inside the flight pen where the young condors are kept until transferred to a release site. The power pole emits a small electrical charge whenever a condor attempts to land on it. The young birds quickly learn to avoid perching on these and will, instead, opt to use appropriate natural perches available inside the flight pen. This program has greatly reduced condor mortalities from power line collisions.
California condors are listed as Endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Biologists see events such as the chick’s successful fledging in Pinnacles a hopeful sign that as with bald eagles and peregrine falcons, California condors will one day be delisted.
I like to think of the time when California condors manage their own lives. They don’t need numbered tags and transmitters for monitoring because we’ve protected their habitat and changed our harmful habits.
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