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Regarded as one of the rarest birds in the world, the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is the largest land bird in North America with a wingspan up to 9 1/2 feet and weighing up to 23 pounds. Adults are primarily black except for triangle-shaped patches of bright white underneath their wings. These patches are visible when condors are flying overhead and offer a key identification characteristic. Males and females are identical in size and plumage. The bare heads of condors are grayish-black as juveniles and turn a dull orange-pink as adults.

Condors are members of the New World vulture family and are opportunistic scavengers, feeding exclusively on dead animals such as deer, cattle, rabbits, and large rodents.

Using thermal updrafts, condors can soar and glide at up to 50 miles per hour and travel 100 miles or more per day searching for food while expending little energy.

When not foraging for food, condors spend most of their time perched at a roost. Cliffs, tall conifers, and snags serve as roost sited in Grand Canyon National Park.

Condors become sexually mature at about six years of age and mate for life (although we have had one divorce in Arizona so far!) Most nest sites are found in caves and rock crevices. Condors do not build nests. Instead, an egg about 5 inches in length and weighing around 10 ounces is deposited on bare ground. Condors typically lay a single egg every other year. The egg hatches after 56 days of incubation and both parents share responsibility for incubation and for feeding the nestling. Young condors leave the nest when they are 5 to 6 months old.

There are currently over 70 condors flying free in northern Arizona and southern Utah, including several that were raised in wild nest caves within or near to the Grand Canyon.

The rest come from the captive breeding program.  Even the wild-raised birds are mostly now wearing numbered tags and transmitters.  The numbers allow you to learn more specifics about any bird you get a close look at. 

So look out for these magnificent birds soaring on their 9-foot (nearly 3-meter) wingspan over Grand Canyon National Park.  During the warmer months they are seen regularly from the South Rim and frequently also from the North Rim.  On the South Rim, try scanning the cliffs and Douglas-fir trees below the Bright Angel Lodge late in the afternoon.  Most nights from late April through July and to some degree from March through October, some condors select overnight roosts in that area.

More About the Condor Re-introduction Program

Condor Talk: Wings over the Canyon (Daily) (IN THE SPRING, SUMMER & FALL) What highly endangered bird with a 9-foot (2.7-m) wingspan is often spotted at Grand Canyon? The California condor! Learn about these majestic birds and their reintroduction in northern Arizona in a talk on the canyon's rim. South Rim - Fall 2011:  8:00 a.m and 3:00 p.m. daily: In front of Lookout Studio near Bright Angel Lodge. Parking is limited; consider parking at Lots C or D or riding the free Village Route shuttle bus to the Bright Angel stop. (You may have to use stairs to arrive at the program site.) North Rim - 2011 Season (May 15 - Oct. 15) 4:30 p.m. daily: Grand Canyon Lodge fireplace on back porch.

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Condors at the Canyon Audio Podcast, April 2009 - 7.68MB By Park Rangers Marshall Marker and Pat Brown Duration 09m 35s - Transcript (55kb PDF File)
You may listen to the podcast here, or download it through the link below. http://www.nps.gov/grca/photosmultimedia/upload/condor-20090415.mp3

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Watch the Lead Vs. Copper Bullet Video In this video, Pinnacles N.M. Wildlife Biologist, Jim Petterson, and a group of other hunters compare the performance of lead and non-lead bullets. He also discusses the potential impacts of lead bullet fragmentation on wildlife and humans.

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December 16, 2011 - Condor Update from Grand Canyon

Hello Condor Enthusiasts,
Here's a quick update before I disappear for the winter. As usual, highlights are in bold blue.
Population numbers from the US Fish & Wildlife Service, as of October 31, 2011:

394 - World Total

189 - Captive Population (including birds temporarily in captivity)

205 - Wild Population

111 - California (including 2 not-yet-fledged chicks in Southern California as of that date)

 23 - Baja California, Mexico (including one new fledgling!)

 71 - Arizona/Utah (now 73 after 2 birds were released 11/8/11)

Arizona Breeding Season News:
Following the fortunes of the California condor population can be an emotional roller coaster!The month of November offered rather a thrill ride for those watching for the fledging of chick #634, offspring of 234M/4 and 280F/80 in the Battleship formation below Grand Canyon Village.

On November 20, Sjors the long-time NPS volunteer at the bottom of Grand Canyon, was doing nest watch from the Tonto plateau.He gives the following (lightly edited) account:

At exactly 3:38 p.m. I am not sure if 634 jumped or got to the point of no return. Either way, 634 was now in flight. The flight was more like a controlled fall, more fall than control. It first was swinging back and forth falling like a wet leaf. Half way down the 400-foot Redwall cliff, 634 caught itself and went into a short horizontal glide. "Oh my god it's flying!" I thought. It even made a perfect U-turn gliding back. Then 634 made 3 attempts to land on the face of the cliff, but it was moving too fast to land. I could see 634 tap the wall with each attempt. The attempts threw 634 off its beautiful glide back into the scary controlled fall. Just 2 meters before reaching the very bottom of the Redwall cliff, the chick disappeared behind some bushes. So I could not witness the landing. By the speed 634 was coming down I would guess it was a hard landing or a crash. So I did not know the fate of 634. Was it injured? Was it alive?

The story continues, as told by Sjors:

I watched rest of the day and most of the next day, Nov 21, with no sign of 634. Dad 234 did come back and landed 20 meters above where 634 was last seen. So at least I knew 234 had found 634.

Nov 23 - Rangers Steve Rice and Emily Davis visited Horn. They spotted a condor at the bottom of the Redwall. Because of distance they were unable to identify if it was the chick or one of the parents.

Nov 25 and 26 - I returned to Horn and was able to confirm the condor at the base of the Redwall was Chick 634. I watch it flap its wings, hop around, climb up the cliff, and take a short flight. Wings and legs were fine. Chick 634 was O.K.

In later days I heard that 634 made it back up to the safety of the cliffs. Both parents have been around.

Grand Canyon National Park Wildlife Biologist Janice Stroud-Settles expresses thanks to Sjors, to Canyon District Ranger Steve Rice, and to Wildlife Biologist Adia Sovie.All have helped to monitor 634 since its fledging.She reports that the National Park Service and The Peregrine Fund will continue to monitor the chick through the winter months.

Park Ranger Condor Talks:
Condor Talks have been discontinued for the winter in Grand Canyon National Park, but will most likely start up again on the South Rim on March 1, 2012.

On "Condor Cliffs"
For condor news over the winter, as always you can keep an eye on The Peregrine Fund's "Condor Cliffs" Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CondorCliffs.

Recent entries tell of the Vermilion Cliffs release November 8 of two new condors, now added to the attached chart.They are: condor 541F/J4, a 2-year-old female from The Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, and condor 530M/30, a 2-year-old male from the Los Angeles Zoo.

The Vermilion Cliffs fledgling, #610 is reported as doing well and there are photos to see on Condor Cliffs.

Updated Condor Chart
I've updated the chart of California Condors in AZ/UT by Tag # as of December 16, 2011. The chart may be downloaded here.
http://www.nps.gov/grca/naturescience/upload/CondorChart20111216.pdf

Have a great winter!
--Marker

Ms. Marker Marshall
Park Ranger--Interpretation
Grand Canyon National Park
P.O. Box 129
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023

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Visit the Condor Update Archive for past updates. 

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Related Information

California Condors

Condor Re-introduction Program

Lead Vs. Copper Bullet Study

Bird List for Grand Canyon National Park (154kb PDF File)