California Condor Facts

The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is the largest terrestrial bird in North America. It is black in color and sports a bald head with very few feathers. The color of the head varies from white to reddish purple. The bare head is an adaptation for hygiene since they eat dead and rotting meat and must, for the most part, stick their heads into the carcasses to feed.

Diet

Condors mostly consume carrion (dead animal carcasses). They prefer the carcasses of large dead animals like deer, cattle, and sheep; however, they are also known to eat the carcasses of smaller animals like rodents and rabbits.

Population

The population steadily declined during the 20th century until there were only 22 California condors known to exist in the world.  The last of the free-flying condors were taken into captivity in 1987 to avoid additional mortality and to preserve as much diversity of the gene pool as possible.  There were no California condors in the wild between 1988 and 1991, but reintroduction into the wild began in early 1992 and continues today.  As of March 2007, there are approximate 279 California condors in the world, about 130 of which are free-flying in California, Arizona and Baja California, Mexico.

Range

The California condor historically ranged throughout the western United States from Canada to Mexico, with some populations as far east as Florida and New York.  Current range includes California’s southern coastal ranges from Big Sur to Ventura County, east through the Transverse Range and the southern Sierra Nevada, with other populations in northern Baja California and Arizona. See a California condor range map >>

Behavior

Condors can soar to heights of 15,000 feet and may travel up to 150 miles a day in search of their next meal. They do not have a good sense of smell so they find their food mostly by their keen eyesight.  Like vultures and other scavengers, condors are part of nature’s cleaning crew.  Things could get pretty messy without the services of these important animals in the ecosystem!

Reproduction
Gestation: About 56 days for egg incubation.
Clutch size: 1 egg.
California condors most often use caves or crevices in rock faces for nest sites. Instead of having many young and gambling that a few will survive, the condor produces very few young and provides an extensive amount of parental care. The chick learns to fly at about 6 months but will stay with the parents for many more months.

Climate Change and Other Threats

Historically, California condor decline was the result of a combination of high death rate and a naturally low reproductive rate. Current major threats to wild California condors are lead poisoning, electrocution by colliding with power poles and poaching or accidental shooting.  Other threats include ingestion of microtrash (bottle caps, screws, wire, etc.), incompatible development within condor habitat and poisoning from such sources as automobile antifreeze and crude oil.

Climate change could alter habitats in the condor recovery area by increasing fire frequency and altering the winds that condors rely on for foraging over long distances. Read about a project to manage the conservation of the California condor and its ecosystem in a changing climate >>

Defenders at Work

Defenders is actively engaged in helping to protect the California condor from ongoing threats to its successful recovery. Learn more about California Condor management and policy >>

Read "Condors Take Flight Again," an article in Defenders magazine.

Legal Status/Protection

• Endangered Species Act (ESA): The California condor was listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act on March 11, 1967. Critical habitat for the species was established on September 24, 1976. The condor was also listed as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act on June 27, 1971, although the species has been listed as a Fully Protected Species under California state statute since 1953.
• IUCN Red List: Critically endangered.
• CITES: The California condor is listed in Appendix I.
• Learn more about legal status and protection of California condors >>

How You Can Help

• Help California Condors and other wildlife by adopting an animal at our Wildlife Adoption Center.
• Take Action for Wildlife at our Wildlife Action Center.

For additional information

• Arizona Game & Fish
• LA Zoo & Botanical Gardens
• National Park Service
• The Peregrine Fund
• San Diego Zoo
• Ventana Wildlife Society