Ventana Wildlife Society - Condor Reintroduction Field Notes

It was a stormy and cold Monday of April that our first 2012 chick hatched its way into the world. Between rain and thunder the healthy foster egg of #171 "Traveler" and #194 "Whale watcher" peeped a hole in its shell and slowly hatched onto a rocky ledge up a redwood canyon. Since then, the proud parents can't seem to leave their chick's side. Taking turns brooding and feeding her, three weeks later chick #644 is healthy and active! We wish a good fledging to #644!

The third week of this month another egg hatched! Pair #167 "Kingpin" and #190 "Red Wood Queen" received their own chick, SB #646 on a hot spring day. This pair is very excited with their new hatchling; they are taking care of their chick remarkably well.

Also this month, Ventana Wildlife Society's field biologists and interns embarked on a nest search in a remote canyon. Like a treasure hunt, our crew followed signals and trail-blazed through fallen trees, brush piles and poison oak until we located #168 "Beak Boy" and #208's "Solo's" new nest up high in a burned out redwood tree. This couple has nested in a different place each time in their territory since and all of their nest cavities have been in redwood trees. It is encouraging to know there are so many large holes and broken out tops to support them.

All the while, pair #222 "Cosmo" and #251 "Crush" are still incubating their egg, also in a redwood cavity off the coast.

If we talk about fancy bird houses, Condors win by choosing the most amazing places to nest, often overlooking waterfalls and sometimes with spectacular ocean views.

In other exciting news, at the end of the month several Condors were seen flying over San Simeon's elephant seal colony! Birds #313, #375 and #514 were in the mix and a few others may have been with them. This is a huge step for the Central California flock, since it indicates they're range is expanding in to San Luis Obispo County- something we have been waiting for a few years to see. We have also heard reports of a recently washed up wale there.

The end of April means the beginning of "Trap-up Season" in Condor country. All of the birds in the Big Sur and Pinnacles flock have to be captured for transmitter replacements and an annual medical exam Most of all, they get tested for lead poisoning to ensure they are healthy.

If you are interested in helping California Condors, and live somewhat locally, this is the perfect time to do it. Nesting season is one of the most critical times for wild Condors. As their parents look for food and small pieces of bone to provide them with calcium, adult birds confuse micro trash (bottle caps, pop tabs, broken glass, bolts or washers) with bone fragments. Please volunteer to help us maintain their territories free of trash!

Last but not least we said goodbye to the amazing Andy Ganick this month, who has been helping our crew fill the gaps. He's now gallivanting around Alaska doing waterfowl research. Good Luck Andy!

Variable weather of rain and coast fog has dominated much of the month of March, but we have been fortunate with several bouts of sunshine as well, allowing unbroken monitoring of the flock. Early this month we captured condor 351, from the Pinnacles flock, who had been flying “stealth” with no tags, transmitters or other form of individual identification. After applying new tags and VHF transmitters, 351 was soon back in the air. The newly released birds in the flock are doing very well. They are frequently first on the scene for new carcasses and continue to hang out near the release site. 583 (dubbed “Wooly Blue Curls” for the local flora) is a bit more adventurous rolling with the big birds. She is often seen feeding with adults and was spotted flying around the Big Sur Valley with 171, 190 and others scoping out a carcass. This is the furthest north any of our newly released condors has been spotted yet!

Nesting behavior has continued to increase this month, with excitement around two more nests, for a total of five nests this year so far! Each nest is entered when the egg is approximately a month old to determine if it is fertile. This is done by shining a light through the egg to see how development is proceeding. With the candling expertise of Mike Clark from the LA Zoo, so far we determined that 167/190 have a fertile egg and that 194/171 have an egg that is no longer viable. We left 167/190’s egg in the nest, but replaced 194/171’s failed egg with an artificial egg and if all goes well, we will bring up a captive-laid foster egg from LA Zoo for this pair to hatch in mid April. In other egg news, pair 251/222 appear to have laid an egg this month. Adult female 306 still visits the pair at the nest and her presence as the “third wheel” is still tolerated, an interesting twist in this ongoing condor soap opera. Other pairs are showing promise for new nests although we continue to wait for more progress. 199/236 and 168/208 have been seen displaying and copulating, a good sign that they may nest in the near future. Another pair, 318/317 has a new nest after their first egg was predated by ravens. This is the first Condor nest recycling documented in Central California and the birds continue to do well incubating their new egg at Pinnacles! Link to Pinnacles National Monument Condor Program here

This month we also saw our seasoned interns, Erin Brannon and Zeka Kuspa, move on to bigger and better projects. Erin is returning to her biologist position at Zion National Park where she has helped monitor wildlife for the past six summers including, Mexican Spotted Owls and Peregrine Falcons and this spring the excitement includes California Condors 299 and 343 who have been seen frequently in the area. Erin reports she recently saw 299 display and copulate successfully with 343 on the side of Angel’s Landing, so there is hope for a possible first nest there this year! Zeka has been accepted for a PhD fellowship at UC Santa Cruz to work with Dr. Myra Finkelstein who specializes in wildlife toxicology and is currently working to better understand threats to Condors, among other species. Good luck to you both with your next adventure!

Gaby Olimon and Katie Dunbar are our two new interns who will be working on the project for the next several months. Gaby is from Ensenada, Mexico and recently worked with the California Condor recovery project in Baja, MX and Katie is from Vermont and came to Big Sur from the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory to continue working with birds. Both Gaby and Katie will be excellent additions to the Condor Crew.

As winter weather holds off for yet another month, Condor breeding is kicking into high gear. Without the winter storms we are used to we are witnessing earlier courtship and mating this year. Based on individual movements and behaviors, it is likely we already have three active nests this season! Condor pairs (male/female) 209/231, 194/171, and 167/190 have each been documented spending time alone at their nest cavities with mates switching out every few days, key signs of pairs incubating eggs.

Since it takes a Condor egg about 54-60 days to hatch, trading off incubation duties every 3-4 days ensures that each adult can feed before their next shift begins. We were even lucky enough to spot the wild egg for pair 194/171, which is a rare sight when observing these clandestine nesters. While it is not unprecedented, it has been a long time since we have had this many nests on the Central Coast before March. The warm weather and other early signs of spring seem to have jump-started egg-laying this year.

We continue to watch all of our established pairs very closely and are crossing our fingers for more nesting attempts (and successes!) for the breeding season as seven are possible. We are still hopeful to see nest attempts from pairs 199/231, 168/208, 204/222, and 219/310.

Happily, our four recently released captive-bred birds (559, 566, 569, and 583) are doing well. 566 flew stealth for a while after his new radio transmitter quit unexpectedly, but we are tracking him now after we trapped him for a new one. All four have been feeding regularly and exhibiting proper social conduct towards the older, more dominant Condors in the flock- a good sign that these birds are developing the necessary skills for survival in the wild. Read more about their profiles and nicknames, soon to be uploaded to our adopt-a-Condor website: www.MyCondor.org

January finally delivered winter's promise of rain to Big
Sur - a short lived pulse that came in the form of a 3 day coastal storm in the middle of the month. After that it was back to the unusually dry and hot conditions that have characterized most of the winter here on the Central Coast. Our rivers are still running low and the people and the land are generally parched wondering why spring is already creeping in with new blooms and insects already buzzing. Even the ticks are back!

The big news this month is together with the release of four new birds at Pinnacles (550, 564, 588, 589) and the release of four birds in Big Sur (566, 569,559,583), our central flock has grown to a total of 64 free-flying Condors! 583 was our last bird to find freedom. After a week in the release pen by herself she finally decided to take flight on the 12th bringing our release work to a close for the season. After 569 was released she set a new record. Within 48 hours she found and followed the skilled flights of older birds to a Sea lion carcass that had washed up on the coastline. She became the first chick to find and feed on a non-proffered carcass that quickly after being released.

In other news, Pinnacles adult condor #351 has gone completely stealth by losing both his wing I.D. number tags and his transmitters. So, if you spot an adult Condor on the Central Coast with no form of I.D. you'll know now who it is! Breeding season is in high gear, multiple pairs are in the process of courtship and we anticipate eggs any day now. We have two bachelor males, 204 and 242, that we hope will find mates this year…keep your fingers crossed. That's it for now, thanks for tuning in, until next month…

In-flight species comparison chart

In-flight species comparison chart - Print a copy to take with you when looking for condors