California condor

The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is a

New World vulture and the largest North American land bird. California condor
It became extinct in the wild in 1987 when all remaining wild Temporal range: Early Pleistocene –
individuals were captured, but has since been reintroduced to Holocene
northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand
Canyon area and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains
of California, and northern Baja California in Mexico. It is
the only surviving member of the genus Gymnogyps,
although four extinct members of the genus are also known.
The species is listed by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature as Critically Endangered, and
similarly considered Critically Imperiled by NatureServe.[5]

The plumage is black with patches of white on the underside

of the wings; the head is largely bald, with skin color ranging
from gray on young birds to yellow and bright orange on
breeding adults. Its 3.0 m (9.8 ft) wingspan is the widest of
any North American bird, and its weight of up to 12 kg Condor #534 soaring over the Grand
(26 lb) nearly equals that of the trumpeter swan, the heaviest Canyon, U.S.
among native North American bird species. The condor is a
Conservation status
scavenger and eats large amounts of carrion. It is one of the
world's longest-living birds, with a lifespan of up to 60
years.[6]

Condor numbers dramatically declined in the 20th century Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1]
due to agricultural chemicals (DDT), poaching, lead
poisoning, and habitat destruction.[7] A conservation plan put CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
in place by the United States government led to the capture of Scientific classification
all the remaining wild condors by 1987, with a total
population of 27 individuals.[8] These surviving birds were Domain: Eukaryota
bred at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Kingdom: Animalia
Zoo. Numbers rose through captive breeding, and beginning
in 1991, condors were reintroduced into the wild. Since then, Phylum: Chordata
their population has grown, but the California condor remains Class: Aves
one of the world's rarest bird species. By 31 December 2022,
the National Park Service gave a total world population of Order: Accipitriformes
561.[9] A current estimation of a population of 558 is Family: Cathartidae
provided by the non-profit Ventana Wildlife Society on their
website.[10] The condor is a significant bird to many Genus: Gymnogyps
Californian Native American groups and plays an important Species: G. californianus
role in several of their traditional myths.
Binomial name

Taxonomy Gymnogyps californianus

 The California condor was (Shaw, 1797)
described by English
naturalist George Shaw in
1797 as Vultur californianus;
Archibald Menzies collected
the type specimen "from the
coast of California" during
the Vancouver expedition.[4]
It was originally classified in
the same genus as the
Andean condor (V. gryphus),
but, due to the Andean
condor's slightly different
Range map of California condor:
markings, slightly longer
wings, and tendency to kill Extant (resident)

Frederick Polydore Nodder's small animals to eat,[11] the Possibly extinct

illustration accompanying California condor has been
Synonyms
George Shaw's 1797 placed in its own monotypic
species description genus. The generic name
Gymnogyps is derived from Genus-level:
the Greek gymnos/γυμνος
"naked" or "bare", and gyps/γυψ "vulture",[12] while the Antillovultur Arredondo, 1971
specific name californianus comes from its location in Pseudogryphus Ridgway, 1874[3]
California. The word condor itself is derived from the
Quechua word kuntur.[13] Species-level:
The exact taxonomic placement of the California condor and
Vultur californianus Shaw, 1797[4]
the other six species of New World vultures remains
unclear.[14] Though similar in appearance and ecological
roles to Old World vultures, the New World vultures evolved from
a different ancestor in a different part of the world. Just how
different the two are is under debate, with some earlier authorities
suggesting that the New World vultures are more closely related to
storks.[15] More recent authorities maintain their overall position in
the order Falconiformes along with the Old World vultures[16] or
place them in their own order, Cathartiformes.[17] The South
American Classification Committee has removed the New World
A California condor skull
vultures from Ciconiiformes and instead placed them in Incertae
sedis, but notes that a move to Falconiformes or Cathartiformes is
possible.[14]

As of the 51st Supplement (2010) of the American Ornithologists' Union, the California condor is in the
family Cathartidae of the order Cathartiformes.[18]

Evolutionary history

The genus Gymnogyps is an example of a relict distribution. During the Pleistocene Epoch, this genus was
widespread across the Americas. From fossils, the Floridian Gymnogyps kofordi from the Early Pleistocene
and the Peruvian Gymnogyps howardae from the Late Pleistocene have been described.[19] A condor
 found in Late Pleistocene deposits on Cuba was initially described
as Antillovultur varonai, but has since been recognized as another
member of Gymnogyps, Gymnogyps varonai. It may even have
derived from a founder population of California condors.[20]

The California condor is the sole surviving member of Gymnogyps

and has no accepted subspecies. However, there is a Late
Pleistocene form that is sometimes regarded as a palaeosubspecies,
Fossil of the extinct species
Gymnogyps californianus amplus. Opinions are mixed, regarding
Gymnogyps amplus from the La
the classification of the form as either a chronospecies or a separate
Brea Tar Pits species, Gymnogyps amplus.[21] Gymnogyps amplus occurred over
much of the bird's historical range – even extending into Florida –
but was larger, having about the same weight as the Andean
condor. This bird also had a wider bill.[22] As the climate changed during the last ice age, the entire
population became smaller until it had evolved into the Gymnogyps californianus of today,[23][24] although
more recent studies by Syverson question that theory.[21]

Description
The adult California condor is a uniform black with the exception of large
triangular patches or bands of white on the underside of the wings. It has
gray legs and feet, an ivory-colored bill, a frill of black feathers surrounding
the base of the neck, and brownish red eyes.[25] The juvenile is mostly a
mottled dark brown with blackish coloration on the head. It has mottled
gray instead of white on the underside of its flight feathers.[26]

The condor's head has little to no feathers, which helps keep it clean when
feeding on carrion.[27] The skin of the head and neck is capable of flushing
noticeably in response to emotional state.[28] The skin color varies from
yellowish to a glowing reddish-orange.[25] The birds do not have true
syringeal vocalizations. They can make a few hissing or grunting sounds
only heard when very close.[29]
An adult in flight. Tracking
The female condor is smaller than the male, tags can be seen on both
an exception to the rule among birds of wings.
prey (the related Andean condor is another
exception). Overall length ranges from 109
to 140 cm (43 to 55 in) and wingspan from 2.49 to 3 m (8 ft 2 in to 9 ft
10 in). Their weight ranges from 7 to 14.1 kg (15 to 31 lb), with
estimations of average weight ranging from 8 to 9 kg (18 to 20 lb).[26][30]
Wingspans of up to 3.4 m (11 ft) have been reported but no wingspan over
3.05 m (10.0 ft) has been verified.[31] Most measurements are from birds
raised in captivity, so it is difficult to determine if major differences exist
between wild and captive condors.

California condors have the largest wingspan of any North American bird.
They are surpassed in both body length and weight only by the trumpeter
The upper body and head swan and the introduced mute swan. The American white pelican and
whooping crane also have longer bodies than the condor. Condors are so
large that they can be mistaken for a small, distant airplane, which possibly
occurs more often than that they are mistaken for other bird species.[32]
The middle toe of the California condor's foot is greatly elongated, and the hind toe is only slightly
developed. The talons of all the toes are straight and blunt and are thus more adapted to walking than
gripping. This is more similar to their supposed relatives the storks[33][34] than to birds of prey and Old
World vultures, which use their feet as weapons or organs of prehension.

Historic range
At the time of human settlement of the Americas, the California
condor was widespread across North America; condor bones from
the late Pleistocene have been found at the Cutler Fossil Site in
southern Florida.[35] However, at the end of the last glacial period
came the extinction of the megafauna that led to a subsequent
reduction in range and population. Five hundred years ago, the
California condor roamed across the American Southwest and West
Coast. Faunal remains of condors have been found documented in
Arizona,[36] Nevada,[37] New Mexico,[38][39] and Texas.[40] The
Lewis and Clark Expedition of the early 19th century reported on California oak savanna on the east
flank of Sonoma Mountain
their sighting and shooting of California condors near the mouth of
the Columbia River.[41][42]

In the 1970s, two Condor Observation Sites were established in the Santa Clara River Valley to host
hopeful birders interested in the endangered species: one about 15 miles north of Fillmore, California, near
the Sespe Wildlife Area of Los Padres National Forest, and one atop Mount Pinos, "accessible from a dirt
road off the highway in from Gorman".[43]

Habitat
The California condor lives in rocky shrubland, coniferous forest, and oak savanna.[1] They are often found
near cliffs or large trees, which they use as nesting sites. Individual birds have a huge range and have been
known to travel up to 250 km (160 mi) in search of carrion.

There are two sanctuaries chosen because of their prime condor nesting habitat: the Sisquoc Condor
Sanctuary in the San Rafael Wilderness[44] and the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in the Los Padres National
Forest.

The Los Padres Condor Range and River Protection Act of 1992 expanded existing wilderness by 34,200
hectares (84,400 acres) and designated 127,900 hectares (316,050 acres) of new wilderness that provide
habitat for the condor in the Los Padres.

Ecology and behavior

The California condor's large flight muscles are not anchored by a correspondingly large sternum, which
restricts them to being primarily soarers. The birds flap their wings when taking off from the ground, but
after attaining a moderate elevation they largely glide, sometimes going for miles without a single flap of
their wings. They have been known to fly up to speeds of 90 km/h (56 mph) and as high as 4,600 m
(15,100 ft).[45] They prefer to roost on high perches from which they can launch without any major wing-
flapping effort. Often, these birds are seen soaring near rock cliffs, using thermals to aid them in keeping
aloft.[46]
The California condor has a long life span, reaching up to 60 years.[6][7] If
it survives to adulthood, the condor has few natural threats other than
humans.[47] Because they lack a syrinx, their vocal display is limited to
grunts and hisses.[28] Condors bathe frequently and can spend hours a day
preening their feathers.[45] Condors also perform urohidrosis, or defecate
on their legs, to reduce their body temperature.[28] There is a well-
developed social structure within large groups of condors, with competition
to determine a pecking order decided by body language, competitive play
behavior, and a variety of hisses and grunts. This social hierarchy is
displayed especially when the birds feed, with the dominant birds eating
before the younger ones.[48]

Breeding Preening condors

Condors begin to look for a mate when they reach sexual maturity
at the age of 6.[45] To attract a prospective mate, the male condor
performs a display, in which the male turns his head red and puffs
out his neck feathers. He then spreads his wings and slowly
approaches the female. If the female lowers her head to accept the
male, the condors become mates for life.[48] The pair makes a
simple nest in caves or on cliff clefts, especially ones with nearby
roosting trees and open spaces for landing. A mated female lays one
bluish-white egg every other year. Eggs are laid as early as January
An adult with a 30-day-old chick in a
to as late as April.[49] The egg weighs about 280 grams (10 oz) and
cave nest near the Hopper Mountain
measures from 90 to 120 mm (3.5 to 4.7 in) in length and about National Wildlife Refuge, California,
67 mm (2.6 in) in width. If the chick or egg is lost or removed, the U.S.
parents "double clutch", or lay another egg to take the lost one's
place. Researchers and breeders take advantage of this behavior to
double the reproductive rate by taking the first egg away for puppet-rearing; this induces the parents to lay a
second egg, which the condors are sometimes allowed to raise.[50]

The eggs hatch after 53 to 60 days of incubation by both parents. Chicks are born with their eyes open and
sometimes can take up to a week to leave the shell completely.[28] The young are covered with a grayish
down until they are almost as large as their parents. They are able to fly after 5 to 6 months, but continue to
roost and forage with their parents until they are in their second year, at which point the parents typically
turn their energies to a new nest.[25] Ravens are the main predatory threat to condor eggs, while golden
eagles and bears are potential predators of condor offspring.

In 2021, the San Diego Zoo reported having had two unfertilized eggs hatch within its breeding program in
2001 and 2009, producing male young by parthenogenesis as indicated by genetic studies. The mothers
had been housed with males and had mated before, but the offspring lacked markers of male paternity and
showed all-maternal inheritance, suggesting the specific mechanism of parthenogenesis involved automixis,
gametic fusion, or endomitosis.[51][52][53] Earlier evidence of similar parthenogenesis in birds found that
among the known examples the embryos died before hatching, unlike these condor chicks. Neither chick
lived to sexual maturity, preventing data collection on their reproductive potential.[54]

Feeding
See Evolutionary anachronism.
 Wild condors maintain a large home range, often traveling 250 km
(160 mi) a day in search of carrion.[55] It is thought that in the early
days of its existence as a species, the California condor lived off the
carcasses of the Pleistocene megafauna, which are largely extinct in
North America. They still prefer to feast on large, terrestrial
mammalian carcasses such as deer, goats, sheep, donkeys, horses,
pigs, cougars, bears, or cattle. Alternatively, they may feed on the
bodies of smaller mammals such as rabbits, squirrels,[56] or
Juveniles feeding coyotes, aquatic mammals such as whales and California sea lions,
or salmon. Bird and reptile carcasses are rarely eaten. Condors
prefer fresh kills, but they also eat decayed food when
necessary. [56] Since they do not have a sense of smell,[57] they spot these corpses by looking for other
scavengers, like eagles and smaller vultures, the latter of which cannot rip through the tougher hides of
these larger animals with the efficiency of the larger condor. They can usually intimidate other scavengers
away from the carcass, with the exception of bears, which will ignore them, and golden eagles, which will
fight a condor over a kill or a carcass.[25] In the wild they are intermittent eaters, often going for between a
few days to two weeks without eating,[55] then gorging themselves on 1–1.5 kilograms (2.2–3.3 lb) of meat
at once.

Conservation
The California condor conservation project may be one of the most
expensive species conservation projects in United States history,[58]
costing over $35 million, including $20 million in federal and state
funding, since World War II.[59] As of 2007, the annual cost for the
condor conservation program was around $2.0 million per year.[59]

Recovery plan
A juvenile in the Grand Canyon, with
As the condor's population continued to decline, discussion began its numbered tag prominent.
about starting a captive breeding program for the birds. Opponents
to this plan argued that the condors had the right to freedom and
that capturing all of the condors would change the species' habits forever,
and that the cost was too great.[60] The project received the approval of the
United States government, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service
established the California Condor Recovery Program in 1979.[61] The
capture of the remaining wild condors was completed on Easter Sunday
1987, when AC-9, the last wild condor, was captured.[62] At that point,
there were only 22 surviving condors, all of them in captivity.[63] The goal
of the California Condor Recovery Plan was to establish two
geographically separate populations, one in California and the other in
Arizona, each with 150 birds and at least 15 breeding pairs.

The study and capture of the remaining California condors was made
possible through the efforts of Jan Hamber, an ornithologist with the Santa
Barbara Museum of Natural History. Hamber personally captured AC- A condor chick being fed by
9,[64] the final wild California condor, and her dedication to the bird's a condor head feeding
puppet
conservation led her to compile decades of field notes into the Condor Archives, a searchable database
focused on condor biology and conservation.[64]

The captive breeding program, led by the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Los Angeles Zoo,[65] and with
other participating zoos around the country, including the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden, got
off to a slow start due to the condor's mating habits. However, utilizing the bird's ability to double clutch,
biologists began removing the first egg from the nest and raising it with puppets, allowing the parents to lay
another egg.

Aside from breeding programs, the Condor Recovery Center at Oakland Zoo treats condors that are ill from
lead poisoning.[66]

Reintroduction to the wild

The California condor once
numbered only 22 birds, but
conservation measures
have raised that number to
over 500 today.
In 1988, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service began a reintroduction
experiment involving the release of captive Andean condors into the wild in
California. Only females were released, to eliminate the possibility of
accidentally introducing a South American species into the United States.
The experiment was a success, and all the Andean condors were recaptured
and re-released in South America.[45] California condors were released in
1991 and 1992 in California at Big Sur, Pinnacles National Park and Bitter
Creek National Wildlife Refuge and in 1996 at the Vermilion Cliffs release
site in Arizona near the Grand Canyon.[26] The Fish and Wildlife Service
designated the Arizona condors as an experimental, nonessential animal so
they would not affect land regulations or development as ranchers were
concerned they could be charged with an offense if any birds were injured
on their property after the release.[67] Though the birth rate remains low in
the wild, their numbers are increasing steadily through regular releases of
captive-reared adolescents.[68]

Obstacles to recovery

In modern times, a wide variety of causes have contributed to the

A USFWS sign at Bitter Creek
National Wildlife Refuge showing the
site's association with the California
Condor Recovery Program
California condor's decline. Its low clutch size (one young per
nest), combined with a late age of sexual maturity, make the bird
vulnerable to artificial population decline. Significant past damage
to the condor population has also been attributed to poaching,[69]
lead poisoning (from eating animals containing lead shot),[70] DDT
poisoning,[71][72] electric power lines, egg collecting, and habitat
destruction. During the California Gold Rush, some condors were
even kept as pets.[73] The leading cause of mortality in condor
nestlings is the ingestion of trash that is fed to them by their
parents.[74]

Premature deaths among condor populations continued to occur due to contact with golden eagles, lead
poisoning, and other factors such as power line collisions.[75] Since 1994, captive-bred California condors
have been trained to avoid power lines and people. Since the implementation of this aversion conditioning
program, the number of condor deaths due to power lines has greatly decreased.[76]
Lead poisoning due to fragmented lead bullets in large game waste is a particularly big problem for condors
due to their extremely strong digestive juices; lead waste is not as much of a problem for other avian
scavengers such as the turkey vulture and common raven.[77] In California, the Ridley-Tree Condor
Preservation Act went into effect July 1, 2008, requiring that hunters use non-lead bullets when hunting in
the condor's range.[78] Blood lead levels in golden eagles as well as turkey vultures has declined with the
implementation of the Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act, demonstrating that the legislation has helped
reduce other species' lead exposures aside from the California condor.[79][80] There is no comparable anti-
lead-bullet legislation in the other states in which the condor resides.

"Over 60 percent of the adult and juvenile deaths (that is, excluding chicks and fledglings) in the wild
population have been as a result of lead poisoning" according to Dawn Starin in an article ("Condors or
lead ammunition? We can't have both") published by The Ecologist in January 2015.[81] She continues:
"Because condors have been known to live past the age of 50, do not breed until they are at least six years
old, and raise only one chick every other year, their populations cannot withstand the mortality rates caused
by this neurological toxin."[81]

According to epidemiologist Terra Kelly: "Until all natural food sources are free from lead-based
ammunition, lead poisoning will threaten recovery of naturally sustaining populations of condors in the
wild."[81] The article also states: "The military doesn't use lead, and if that isn't a huge message I don't
know what is."[81][82]

Avian influenza infected and killed condors in the Arizona-Utah flock in 2023.[83]

Population growth

Nesting milestones have been reached by the reintroduced condors. In 2003, the first nestling fledged in the
wild since 1981.[84] In March 2006, a pair of California condors, released by Ventana Wildlife Society,
attempted to nest in a hollow tree near Big Sur, California. This was the first time in more than 100 years
that a pair of California condors had been seen nesting in Northern California.[85]

In October 2010, the wild condor population reached 100 individuals in its namesake state of California,
plus 73 wild condors in Arizona.[68] In November 2011, there were 394 living individuals, 205 of them in
the wild[6][7] and the rest in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the Santa Barbara Zoo, the Los Angeles Zoo,
the Oregon Zoo, and the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. In May 2012, the number of
living individuals had reached 405, with 179 living in captivity.[86] By June 2014, the condor population
had reached 439: 225 in the wild and 214 in captivity.[87] Official statistics from the December 2016
USFWS recorded an overall population of 446, of which 276 are wild and 170 are captive.[88] A key
milestone was reached in 2015 when more condors were born in the wild than died.[89]

Reintroduction to Mexico

As the Recovery Program achieved milestones, a fifth active release site in Sierra de San Pedro Mártir
National Park, Baja California, Mexico, was added to the three release sites in California and the release
site in Arizona.[90][91] In early 2007, a California condor laid an egg in Mexico for the first time since at
least the 1930s.[92]
In June, 2016, three chicks that were born in Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, were flown to Sierra de San
Pedro Mártir National Park, Baja California, Mexico.[93] In the spring of 2009, a second wild chick was
born in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park and was named Inyaa ("Sun" in the Kiliwa language)
by local environmentalists.[94]

Expanded range

In 2014, Condor #597, also known as "Lupine", was spotted near Pescadero, a coastal community south of
San Francisco.[95] Lupine had been routinely seen at Pinnacles National Park after having been released
into the wild at Big Sur the previous year. Younger birds of the central California population are seeking to
expand their territory, which could mean that a new range expansion is possible for the more than 60
condors flying free in central California.[96] Also in 2014 the first successful breeding in Utah was reported.
A pair of condors that had been released in Arizona, nested in Zion National Park and the hatching of one
chick was confirmed.[97] The 1,000th chick since recovery efforts began hatched in Zion in May 2019.
The California condor was seen for the first time in nearly 50 years in Sequoia National Park in late May
2020.[98][99]

As part of an effort headed by the Yurok tribe to reintroduce the

condor (Yurok name 'prey-go-neesh') to the coastal redwoods of
northern California, birds hatched at the Oregon Zoo and the World
Center for Birds of Prey were released at Redwood National Park
in 2022.[100][101]

Condor Watch

A crowdsourcing project called Condor

Watch (CW) was started on April 14, 2014, Pinnacles National Park, a release
and ended in 2020.[102][103] Hosted by the site
web portal Zooniverse, volunteers were
asked to examine motion-capture images of
California condors associated with release sites managed by the United States Fish
Zooniverse icon
and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and Ventana Wildlife Society.[104] The
for Condor Watch
tasks on the website included identifying tagged condors and marking the distance to
feeding sources such as animal carcasses. Biologists can then use this data to deduce
which birds are at risk of lead poisoning.

Condor Watch enabled volunteers, or citizen scientists, to participate in active research. The project had up
175,000 images to view and assess far more than the team could hope to view on their own.[103] Lead
scientist Myra Finkelstein believes volunteering is fun because it allows enthusiasts to track the
"biographies" of individual condors. Citizen science has long been used in ornithology, for instance in the
Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count, which began in 1900 and the breeding bird survey which began
in 1966. McCaffrey (2005) believes this approach not only directly benefits ongoing projects, but will also
help train aspiring ornithologists.[105]

Relationship with humans

Throughout its historic range, the California condor has been a popular subject of mythology and an
important symbol to Native Americans. Unusually,[106] this bird takes on different roles in the storytelling
of the different tribes.
The Wiyot tribe of California say that the condor recreated mankind after
Above Old Man wiped humanity out with a flood.[107] However, other tribes,
such as California's Mono, view the condor as a destroyer, not a creator; they
say that Condor seized humans, cut off their heads, and drained their blood so
that it would flood Ground Squirrel's home. Condor then seized Ground
Squirrel after he fled, but Ground Squirrel managed to cut off Condor's head
when Condor paused to take a drink of the blood.[108] According to the
Yokuts people, the condor sometimes ate the moon, causing the lunar cycle,
and his wings caused eclipses.[109] The Chumash tribe of Southern California
Condor on California's
tell that the condor was once a white bird, but it turned black when it flew too
state quarter
close to a fire.[109]

Condor bones have been found in Native American graves,[110] as have

condor feather headdresses. Cave paintings of condors have also been discovered.[111] Some tribes ritually
killed condors to make ceremonial clothing out of their feathers. Shamans then danced while wearing these
to reach the upper and lower spiritual worlds. Whenever a Shaman died, his clothes were said to be
cursed,[112] so new clothing had to be made for his successor. Some researchers, such as Noel Snyder,
believe that this practice of making ceremonial clothing contributed to the condor's decline.[112]

See also
Colpocephalum californici, an extinct species of louse that exclusively parasitized the
California condor

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Further reading
Arredondo, Oscar (1976). "The Great Predatory Birds of the Pleistocene of Cuba". In Olson,
Storrs L. (ed.). Collected Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring the 90th Birthday of
Alexander Wetmore. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. Vol. 27. Translated by
Olson, Storrs L. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 169–187.
doi:10.5479/si.00810266.27.1 (https://doi.org/10.5479%2Fsi.00810266.27.1).

External links
U.S. Fish and Wildlife California Condor Recovery Program (https://www.fws.gov/refuge/hop
per_mountain/)
Ventana Wildlife Society (http://www.ventanaws.org/) including the Live Condor cams at Big
Sur and San Simeon.
Hunting with Non-Lead (http://www.huntingwithnonlead.org/)
Vulture Territory Facts and Characteristics: California condor (http://www.vulture-territory.co
m/california.html/) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20220126184123/http://www.vultur
e-territory.com/california.html) January 26, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
BirdLife Species Factsheet 2008 (archived) (https://web.archive.org/web/20090103064913/h
ttp://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3821&
m=0)

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