Condor chick, Pasquale, hatched on Easter (March 28, 2018) in the hollow of a Big Sur redwood tree to parents Redwood Queen and Kingpin.
Parents feed condor chicks several times a day for at least the first few weeks. One parent stays with the chick constantly, while the other parent forages.
After that, feedings are about once a day (every 10 hours) as the bird gets bigger. Both parents will leave the nest to forage, staying away longer as the chick gets older.
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Condor chicks begin to get their juvenile feathers around two months old. They won’t develop adult plumage until nearly 5 years old. In this video below Pasquale is showing some juvenile feathers, especially on wingtips and tail. Papa Kingpin (#167) hatched May 6, 1997, in captivity, and was released in Ventana County on December 22, 1997.
Condor chicks fledge around six months old. For weeks or months before fledging, they perch on the edge of the nest and flap. Notice how many more juvenile feathers have grown to cover Pasquale’s wings in just 10 days.
Their redwood tree nest is in Big Sur.
Condor Watch is a citizen science project that asks people to identify condors and their behavior from photos.
We need you to look at some photos of condors taken by our motion-activated cameras. By identifying the tag number of each condor and their behavior around the feeding carcass, we can judge if the bird's eating or social problems can reveal lead poisoning.
Mama Redwood Queen (#190) hatched May 11, 1998 in captivity and was released December 2, 1998. A 2017 wild hatched condor from Sespe Condor Sanctuary in Ventura County fledged during the Thomas Fire last year (Dec 2017). If all goes well, Pasquale also will take flight later this year.
Learn more about the wild condors in Big Sur from the Ventana Wildlife Society.
Pasquale is wild bred of captive bred parents. Condors are also breed in captivity and released into the wild. How it works —
- Eggs are laid from January through March. Once an egg is laid, it is removed from the nest to an incubator. When the egg begins to hatch it is placed back with the parents.
- Chicks hatch 54 to 57 days later. By June, all chicks have usually hatched. Following an annual tradition, tribal partners have the option to name the condor chicks.
- When they are about eight months old, hatchlings are moved from breeding pens to a fledgling flight area. There they begin their flight fitness preparations and learn to socialize with adult "mentor" condors.
- Young condors receive aversion training that teaches them not to land on power poles. A mock power pole in their enclosure is rigged to provide a mild electric shock if they land on it.
- Oregon-raised condors then move to field pens at one of the five release sites in Mexico's Baja California peninsula, central and southern California and northern Arizona. After several months in the field pens they are released into the wild.
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