California Condor
Five
juvenile California condors are housed in a spacious hilltop aviary overlooking
part of their historic Range, the Santa Ynez Mountains. With this exhibit,
the Santa Barbara Zoo becomes one of only four zoos in the world to display
the endangered, California condor, joining Condor Ridge at the San Diego
Wild Animal Park, Elephant Odyssey at the San Diego Zoo, and the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City.
Habitat/Range: Though they once ranged from British Columbia to northern Baja California, condors are now only found in areas where these huge birds have been rereleased including: Big Sur, southern and central California, northern Arizona, and Baja California, in large areas of remote country with isolated rocky outcrops and cliffs.
Description: Adults have mostly bald head and neck with skin in shades of pink, red, orange, yellow, and light blue (the color changes with the birds’ behavior). Feathers are mostly black, with white under-wing linings. Weighing more than 20 pounds as adults, and with a wing spread of more than nine feet, they are one of the largest flying birds in the world. The beak is long, sharp, and powerful. Juveniles, such as those on exhibit at the Zoo, have black skin and heads; the coloration won’t develop until the birds are mature, which is between ages six to eight.
Breeding: These monogamous birds, once paired, may take
up to three years to begin breeding. They nest in caves among boulders
on cliffs, and the female lays a single aqua-colored egg on the cave floor.
The parents share duties in caring for the egg during the 54 to 58 day
incubation and both care for the chick.
Diet: Consists of medium and large-sized dead mammals (carrion) like cattle, sheep, deer, horses, and marine mammals in any state of decay. Condors may travel several hundred miles in search of food, which they find by sight or by following other scavenging birds. On average, condors consume two to three pounds of meat each time they eat.
Status: Condors are “critically endangered”according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The California condor has been listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act since 1967 and by California state law since 1971. In 2008, the number of California condors in the wild became greater than the number in captivity for the first time in over twenty years.
Fun Facts: Condors do not have vocal cords but they can make hissing and grunting noises, and when scared, they regurgitate (throw up) their stomach contents.
The Zoo’s Condors: The Zoo’s four juvenile birds are listed by the Condor Recovery Program as numbers 432 (male), 433 (female), 439 (male) and 440 (female). They were all hatched at the Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey (Boise, ID) within a two-week period from April 12 through 24, 2007, by different pairs. They won’t display the distinctive red coloration on their faces until they are mature, which is between ages six to eight. A young adult female condor, number 327, joined the flock in February 2010. She has the colorful head of an adult.The birds displayed at the Zoo may change over time, depending on the needs of the Recovery Program. There are no plans for breeding at the Zoo at this time.
Photo credit: Sheri Horiszny