Condors are always on the lookout for calcium to supplement their diet. In searching for natural forms of calcium, like small bones and sea shells, they might pick up small pieces of litter by mistake. Things like plastic, glass, or bottle caps. This "micro-trash", as we call it, can be especially harmful to their chicks if brought back to the nest. Most condor nests end up with a few items of micro-trash, and these usually do not harm the chick. However, in large amounts, micro-trash can potentially sicken or even kill condor chicks.
What can Ventana Wildlife Society do about this?
Sometimes we’re asked if we can climb up to a nest and remove micro-trash. This is a great question, and one that our team often considers. Over the years, as condors have increasingly shown us how capable they are at reproducing successfully on their own in the wild, we have taken steps to decrease our visitation of active nests. Reducing management intervention at nests is part of the plan, as we continue to advance closer and closer to our goal of a 100% self-sustaining condor population. We realize that a visit to any nest can disturb the birds, putting the safety of the chicks at risk. In some situations, the risks associated with intervention can be greater than the risks we are trying to prevent. The climb up to a nest can also be a risk to our staff, as skilled and careful as they are. So, when we consider these risks and our experience with this issue, we tend to avoid intervening, unless we feel the amount of micro-trash is just so great that the long-term health of the chick is compromised.
Our best alternatives are to work with the community in keeping our coast clean, monitoring the birds to identify high-priority areas where they might be most exposed to microtrash, and even removing microtrash from accessible nests during off years (when the nests are not being used by condors), so they will be clear for their next attempt.
What can Ventana Wildlife Society do about this?
Sometimes we’re asked if we can climb up to a nest and remove micro-trash. This is a great question, and one that our team often considers. Over the years, as condors have increasingly shown us how capable they are at reproducing successfully on their own in the wild, we have taken steps to decrease our visitation of active nests. Reducing management intervention at nests is part of the plan, as we continue to advance closer and closer to our goal of a 100% self-sustaining condor population. We realize that a visit to any nest can disturb the birds, putting the safety of the chicks at risk. In some situations, the risks associated with intervention can be greater than the risks we are trying to prevent. The climb up to a nest can also be a risk to our staff, as skilled and careful as they are. So, when we consider these risks and our experience with this issue, we tend to avoid intervening, unless we feel the amount of micro-trash is just so great that the long-term health of the chick is compromised.
Our best alternatives are to work with the community in keeping our coast clean, monitoring the birds to identify high-priority areas where they might be most exposed to microtrash, and even removing microtrash from accessible nests during off years (when the nests are not being used by condors), so they will be clear for their next attempt.
How can you help
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Join us for volunteer micro-trash cleanups! To keep things clean for the condors and our community, we invite volunteers to join us for seasonal trash pick-up events at scenic pullouts often frequented by condors. Teamwork makes this fun. And who knows, we might even see a condor while we work!
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