Colossal Condors

Condors are in the vulture family and are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere.  Because of their size, they prefer mountainous areas with good wind so they can glide on the air currents with little or no effort.  That is one way to identify a condor - it's a bird that rarely flaps its wings once it's airborne. Condors are scavengers and carrion eaters with bald heads to keep their heads cleaner when they stick them in carcasses for their dinner.  There are two species of condors.

The Andean condor is found in the Andes Mountains and coastal western South America and has a wingspan over 10 feet and can weigh over 30 pounds.  They're not particularly pretty birds.  In fact, you might say it's a bird only their mother could love, but they are pretty impressive.




Likewise, the California condor, which is slightly smaller than the Andean condor at a wingspan of just under 10 feet and weighing around 26 pounds, find their meals by sight and not sense of smell and prefer carcasses of larger animals such as deer or sheep.  At one time California condors were widespread across the country, but their numbers were greatly reduced by the 20th Century.  Until a captive breeding program brought these birds back from the brink of extinction, there were only 22 birds left in the wild by 1987.  There are now over 200 birds that have been reintroduced in parts of California, Utah and Arizona, and over 400 condors overall.  The main reason for the slow recovery is because they are slow breeders producing only one chick in a season and sometimes only nesting every other year.

Source:  Wikipedia

Condors can live up to 60 or 70 years and their biggest threat is humans.  As ugly as these birds are, they are part of nature's garbage service and an essential and amazing part of our ecosystem.