CALIFORNIA CONDORS

PHOTOS

Like vultures, which are in the same family, California Condors are scavengers, but instead of relying on their sense of smell they watch for other scavengers feeding on carrion. Adult California Condors are almost entirely black. Except for a few feathers, their heads and necks are mostly bare and include shades of pink, red, orange, yellow, and light blue, becoming more intensely pink when they're excited. It's impossible to distinguish the males from the females just by looking at them. California Condors can reach up to 60 years of age in the wild.

Normally, condors breed once every two years, producing only one egg. If the egg is lost, they might be able to lay another. The male and female take turns incubating the egg and, once it hatches, feeding the offspring until it learns to find its own food, which could take a year.

Playful and inquisitive, California Condors roost in large groups and communicate with a combination of hisses, growls, and grunts as well as a system of body language. Instead of flapping their wings, which can span more than nine feet from tip to tip, condors soar on wind currents.

Ten thousand years ago, California Condors lived on both coasts of North America, from British Columbia to Baja California in the West, and New York to Florida in the East. By about 1900, the condor population plummeted and was limited to Southern California, due to many factors including loss of habitat, a low reproductive rate, poisoning, and shooting. Today, designated refuges and captive breeding programs are helping to protect and restore the species. These magnificent birds are fully protected by State and Federal law.

Reintroduction of captive reared California Condors is one of the more active programs currently operating on the forest. There are 57 California Condors in the wild in in Los Padres National Forest, as of August 2005, where in March 2004 there were only 39. Currently, there are more than 86 California condors flying free in Central and Southern California These numbers fluctuate on a regular basis.

Two sanctuaries have been established in Los Padres National Forest so that condors can roost, nest, hunt and bathe free from curious humans. The Sisquoc Sanctuary of 1,200 acres in the San Rafael Wilderness was established in 1937, and in 1947 the 53,000 acre Sespe Condor Sanctuary was established in Ventura County north of Fillmore.

The areas provide nesting sites in inaccessible, high rocky cliffs. Public entry is restricted in both areas. Visit the Condor Observation Site at the summit of nearby Mt. Pinos for the best opportunity to see condors. The birds may be best observed from June through October.

Driving Directions to the Mt. Pinos Condor Observation Site – I-5

From Interstate 5, exit Frazier Mountain Park Road. Drive west on Frazier Mountain Park Road which will become Cuddy Valley Road. Continue west on Cuddy Valley Road which will become Mt. Pinos Road. Follow Mt. Pinos Road to the Mt. Pinos parking lot.

For more information on California Condors, visit the following websites: