California+Condor+2010



By:Nate C. The adult Condor is black with patches or bands of white underneath the wings. The legs and feet are gray. The beak is a whitish color. The eyes are a redish, brownish color. The female is smaller than the male. Overall, the length can range from (42-55 inches). The weight can range from (15-31 pounds). The California condor lives in San Rafael wilderness and the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in the Los Padres National Forest. Both areas are chosen because of the nesting habitat. The live in rocky scrubland, coniferous forests, and oak savannas. They are often found in cliffs or large trees for nesting. Single birds are known to travel up to 150 miles in search of carrion. Wild condors travel far. Often 160 miles a day in search of carrion. Condor’s sill prefers to feast on deer, goats, sheep, donkeys, horses, pigs, cougars, bears, and cattle. Condors begin looking for a mate when they reach sexual maturity at the age of six. A male condor displays himself and if a female accepts the male they become mates for life. Condors nest caves or on cliffs. They only lay one egg. The chicks are born with their eyes open. Significant damage to the condor population is poaching, egg collection and habitat destruction. Cattle ranchers, who observed condors feeding on dead young cattle, assumed that the condors killed the cattle This fallacy led to the condors being killed. Humans that see any condor or their habitats should leave the birds alone ad don’t disturb the nest. There should also not be any egg collecting, poaching or habitat destruction.