Wishlist Wednesday - California Condor

Photo by Don Graham on Wikimedia

Gymnogyps californianus

It is not for lack of trying that I have not seen a California Condor in the wild. I’ve been to the Grand Canyon multiple times. Nothing. I would look for them on my drives to and from Ojai, where there had been numerous reported sightings. Nada. Now I live in a state where they aren’t native, so I really won’t see one. I guess that is what vacations are for.

The first time I saw one in person was at the San Diego Zoo. I cried. These massive, beautiful birds are a testament to wildlife conservation. In the 1980s, there were only 23 individuals left in the world. 23. That’s it.
Condors eat carrion, so they would get lead poisoning from shot animals. They were also impacted by DDT, which caused their eggshells to be so soft, they would be crushed when the parents would try to incubate them. Also, humans, being who they are, would shoot the large birds for fun.

The remaining Condors were all captured and brought into captivity. Through a multi-entity effort, which included the Los Angeles and San Diego Zoos, they began breeding them. In the early 1990s, they were able to start releasing them back to the wild. There were some hiccups. Condors didn’t know what electrical wires were, so institutions had to teach the birds that the wires were bad before release. Today, there are more than 500 California Condors.

I really do think they are beautiful. Yes, they don’t have feathers on their heads, but you wouldn’t want feathers on your head either if you were going to stick it in a carcass. The undersides of their wings are black with white along the leading edge. They also look like they are wearing a glamorous coat from the 30s with a lovely collar of black feathers around their necks.
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Condors are located in Arizona at the Grand Canyon, in Utah at Zion NP, and in places along the California coast, most notably Pinnacles NP. I’d better start booking my trip!

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