CONDOR COMEBACK NEWS

By Ms. Novi Nur Hasanah

November 26, 2012

The California Condor is the largest flying

land bird in North America and one of its
endangered species. Its an unmistakable
bird; youd recognize it immediately. Its
body is about 52 inches (132 cm) long, and
it usually weighs 1823 pounds (810 k).
Most of its giant body is covered with
black feathers, but there are patches of
white on the undersides of its wings. A
ring of black feathers covers the bottom of
its neck, which is featherless and yelloworange, like its head.

Condors have a wingspan of about

9 feet (2.7 m) and make their homes high
in the mountains, where updrafts of wind
provide perfect conditions for soaring.
These powerful fliers flap their wings a
few times, then glide and soar silently,
looking for food on the ground far below.
They spend a lot of time resting on high
cliffs, but dont build their nests there.
Instead, they lay their eggs in caves or
among high rocks. A female condor lays
just one egg every two years.
Once thousands of these giant birds
flew above the mountains along the Pacific
coastline. Then humans entered the picture
and the California condors habitat, and
very existence, changed. Overhunting and
the building of cities and roads threatened
the condors with extinction. By 1890, there
were only 600 birds left, and the numbers
continued to dwindle.
Although it was illegal to kill a
condor, some people still did. And condors
faced the danger of accidentally flying into
wires or buildings along their flyways. But
their biggest problem came from
chemicals. Ranchers used chemicals to
stop coyotes that stole sheep. Since
condors are part of the

vulture family, they feed on dead animals. So,

unfortunately, the chemicals also poisoned the birds
when they fed on dead coyotes. By the 1980s, it was
obvious that the California Condor wouldnt survive
without help from people.

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The chemical that killed condors was banned,
and scientists captured the last wild condors to protect
and breed them. Their offspring would later be
returned to the wild. It took years, but through this
captive breeding, California Condors have been
reintroduced to the coastal mountains of Californiaand
the Grand Canyon area of northern Arizona. The
fabulous fliers
have come back from
the edge of extinction
and once again soar
stylishly through the
sky.

Where California Condors soar today

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