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| CALIFORNIA CONDOR FEEDING ON GRAY WHALE CARCASS (2006) |
A tagged California condor coming in for a landing. Photo: CDFG.
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| FACTS |
- Condors and vultures evolved bald heads reduce the chance of contracting diseases from bacteria associated with carrion, but still spend time cleaning their heads and feathers after eating.
- The skin on a California condor's head can vary from yellow to red and changes according to its behavior and emotion.
- California condors ride thermal updrafts to altitudes of 4,500 meters, and can reach speeds of 88 kph (San Diego Zoo, 2008).
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It is not uncommon for gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) carcasses to wash up on California beaches as they migrate long the West coast. What is uncommon is finding critically endangered California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) feeding on gray whale carcasses. Nevertheless, wildlife biologists from the Ventana Wilderness Society (VWS) have observed up to 5 individuals feeding upon a beached gray whale during the Summer of 2006, and are discovering more signs of North America's largest bird appearing along the Big Sur coast. California condors have not been observed feeding on whale remains since the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806. These birds have also allegedly been feeding on Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) and California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) carcasses. According to senior wildlife biologist Joe Burnett of the VMS, these feeding events mark important milestones for the species as the birds are becoming more self-sufficient (Thorton, 2006).
The critically endangered California condor. Photo: US Fish and Wildlife Service.
California condors are scavengers, feeding exclusively on carrion (the flesh of dead animals). They have the longest wingspan (up to 1.4 meters), and are the heaviest of birds (weighing up to 14.1 kg) in North America. They are also some of the longest-lived species of birds, with some individuals growing as old as 60 years of age. Historically, the California condor's range extended along the Pacific coast from British Columbia in Canada to central Mexico (San Diego Zoo, 2008). However, poaching, lead poisoning, and human encroachment caused their numbers and range to plummet to 22 individuals occupying zoos in San Diego and Los Angeles. In 1975, the California Condor Recovery Program was initiated to save the species from extinction. The goal of the program was to raise and breed the remaining individuals in captivity with the hope of eventually establishing two wild populations of 150 birds and at least 15 breeding pairs each. In 1992, with the entire population at 62 birds - all in captivity - the first individuals were released into the wild (Behrens, 2000). There are currently 177 birds in captivity and 153 birds in the wild at sites in California, Arizona, and Baja California (VMS, 2008).
Despite the program's success, human development in the form of power lines, and lead poisoning from bullet fragments found in gut piles left by game hunters continues to be a threat to the California condor. The good news is that there is evidence that the birds are beginning to play a role in coastal ecosystems after having been functionally absent for decades, and are showing signs of recovery. By feeding upon beached organisms, they are helping to recycle nutrients, keep beaches and the coastline clean, and improve their own health as marine based food sources may contain less contaminants than terrestrially based food sources.
California condors feeding on the remains of a beached gray whale in Big Sur. Photo: Stuart Thorton, Monterey County Weekly.
| References |
Ventana Wilderness Society (2008). "California Condor Reintroduction." Retrieved 26 November, 2008, from http://www.ventanaws.org/species_condors/.
Behrens, J. J. B. (2000). "Wind in Their Wings: The Condor Recovery Program." Endangered Species Bulletin XXV(3): 2.
Thorton, S. (2006). A Historic Feast: Condors make a meal out of a beached gray whale. Monterey County Weekly. Monterey, Milestone Communications Inc. May 25-31: 2.
San Diego Zoo (2008). "Birds: California Condor." Retrieved 26 November, 2008, from http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-condor.html.
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