#species: california condor

[1dinodaily]

11/30/22 California Condor

[spinus-pinus]

California Condor Gymnogyps californianus

3/4/2023 San Diego Zoo Safari Park, California

happy wet beast wednesday everyone!!!

[rebeccathenaturalist]

California agencies working to protect critically endangered condors are on high alert after 20 recent deaths in northern Arizona, wildlife officials said last week.

A highly pathogenic avian influenza that has infected domestic and wild birds across the country has been confirmed as the cause of death for California condors in in the Arizona-Utah flock. By April 17, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported 20 condors had died. So far, tests confirmed 10 of those birds were positive for the avian flu.

The virus had not been detected in condor populations in Ventura County or other parts of California and Baja as of late this week. But agencies monitoring those flocks were preparing emergency actions in case that changes, said Ashleigh Blackford, the federal agency’s California condor coordinator.

“Our concern is definitely heightened in California,” Blackford said.

More populations, more protection

Agencies have worked for decades to help the species recover. The largest flying land bird in North America — known for its bald head and black feathers — had all but disappeared in the wild by the early 1980s. 

The population dropped to just 22 birds in the wild in 1982. Five years later, all remaining wild condors were placed in a captive breeding program to save the species from extinction.

By the end of last year, 347 condors lived in the wild – 183 in California and 116 in the Arizona-Utah region. 

Supporting separate populations in different areas was part of the plan to help the species overcome any single event such as a virus outbreak or wildfire. The more populations and the more birds increases the odds of survival, Blackford said.

The condors also continue to rely on captive-bred birds being released into the wild.

Virus can be fatal

The avian influenza can spread quickly and appears to be almost 100% fatal for some species. But scientists didn’t know until the recent outbreak how infected condors would fare.

“Now, we know that answer, and it is an unfortunate answer," Blackford said.

But some condors do appear to be recovering. Eight sick condors were captured in Arizona and brought to a facility for treatment. Of those, four died and four others are still receiving care and showing signs of improvement, wildlife officials said.

A setback for Arizona flock

The 20 recent deaths account for around 17% of the Arizona-Utah flock. That's four times the number of deaths in the region last year.

"That’s a substantial setback for this flock," Blackford said. "But it is not insurmountable."

In all of last year, the agency reported 20 condor deaths, most of them in California. Lead poisoning is consistently the leading the cause of death and continues to be the biggest concern for agencies working to protect the species.

The birds feed on carcasses containing bullet fragments, so trying to get folks to use other types of ammunition continues to be a priority, wildlife officials said. Lead poisoning not only can be fatal but also can suppress the immune system, increasing the condors risk from other illnesses.

"If we were not losing birds to lead, then our population would be stronger," Blackford said. "It would be more robust, and we would have healthier birds."

How to help

While the risk to the public's health is low, officials said human infections can happen and the general public should avoid handling wild birds. State and federal agencies recommended the following tips.

Report dead birds using the state's mortality reporting system to help officials monitor the outbreak at wildlife.ca.gov/Living-with-Wildlife.

If you see condors, observe from a distance. Stress can be harmful to birds exhibiting symptoms of illness.

Keep your family, including pets, a safe distance away from wildlife. Do not feed, handle or approach sick or dead animals or their droppings.

Prevent contact of domestic or captive birds with wild birds. 

Find more information about the avian influenza: cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/Animal_Health/Avian_Influenza.html, aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information.

[ridiculousbirdfaces]

Condor Close-up by tomblandford California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus)

[noneedtofearorhope]

Angela Sondenaa was jet-boating up the Snake River through Hells Canyon. Looking at the steep cliffs and rocky crags, an idea struck her: “Man, there needs to be condors here,” she recalls thinking. It was 2015 and Sondenaa—the Nez Perce Tribe’s Precious Lands Wildlife Area project leader—was surveying for bighorn sheep. She’d never considered the idea of bringing condors back to the Columbia River Basin, but once it hit her, she says, “This idea would not leave me.” Sondenaa pitched her idea to the tribe’s wildlife director, and they submitted a grant proposal to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct a condor viability assessment in the Snake River Basin. Winning the grant in 2016 put the Nez Perce Tribe—or Nimíipuu—on a path that could lead to the first reintroduction of condors north of California since they disappeared from this region about 160 years ago. If all continues to go well, the tribe will release their first group of captive-raised birds in a yet-to-be-determined location within five to seven years.

[follow-up-news]

A record 17 California condor chicks hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo during this year’s breeding season for the endangered birds, officials announced Wednesday. All the chicks will be candidates for release into the wild as part of the California Condor Recovery Program, the LA Zoo said in a statement. The 17th and final bird of the season hatched in June and is thriving, zookeepers said. The previous record was set in 1997, when 15 California condor chicks hatched at the zoo. “Our condor team has raised the bar once again in the collaborative effort to save America’s largest flying bird from extinction,” Rose Legato, the zoo’s Curator of Birds, said in the statement. Legato said the recent record is a result of new breeding and rearing techniques developed at the zoo that put two or three chicks together to be raised by a single adult condor acting as a surrogate parent. “The result is more condor chicks in the program and ultimately more condors in the wild,” Legato said.

[daisylovesrumble]

petition: Stop the Illegal Killing of Endangered California Condors

Some uneducated person is shooting these birds. Their hunting license needs to be permanently revoked.

[muttball]

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Caught these California Condors while riding my harley at Big Sur.

[crowsyart]

Some of these have way more meaning than others some are just vibe based I’m a bird guy I gotta birdify the soul eaters

Maka - Carolina Wren

Soul - Osprey

Black☆Star - Common Kingfisher

Tsubaki - Black Heron

Kid - Black Vulture

Liz - Red Tailed Hawk

Patty - Rough Legged Buzzard

Crona -Kauai o’o’

Ragnarok - Loggerhead Shrike

Medusa - Crested Serpent Eagle

Marie - Buff Orpington Chicken

Spirit - Red Crested Cardinal

Stein - Harpy Eagle

Death - Andean Condor

Justin - Turtle Dove

Giriko - Hoatzin

Eruka - Potoo

Mifune - Snowy Owl

Sid - Ostrich

Hero - Grey Catbird

Asura -Magnificent Frigatebird

Naigus - Groove Billed Aini

Asuza - Western Jackdaw

[abcisedfarfromthetree]

Bird fun facts:

This is a California Condor.

They are the largest bird in North America, with an average wingspan of 9.5 feet (about 3 meters), and standing at an average of 4 feet tall (1.2 meters).

These birds have a “crop” in their throat, a special cavity which allows them to store up to three pounds of food. They can live off this stored food for 1-2 weeks.

Condors can live to be fifty years old, and have a very slow reproduction rate. They lay one egg per nesting season, and don’t nest every year. This has been a huge part of why they are endangered.

The main reason, however, is because of lead poisoning from bullets. Condors are scavengers, and will often eat bullets or bullet casings left by hunters. There are about 300 condors in the world, but most of them are in captivity. To prevent the poisoning of condors, there are protected condor reservations in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.

[13flowersandfoxes]

Gotta love how right wingers who think everything the government does is specifically to target them and don’t ever consider that there might be a legitimate issue.

Banning lead ammunition is key to protecting scavenger species. Condors are regularly dying from consuming lead. Additionally, even if the amount of toxins present in the environment is minuscule, as those toxins move through the food chain, the amounts of those toxins becomes magnified. Hence why species like scavengers or predators are most at risk of lead poisoning.

Lead is bad for humans and animals. I also see no reason why anyone should want to eat meat that may have lead in it.

[spinus-pinus]

California Condor Gymnogyps californianus

3/4/2023 San Diego Zoo Safari Park, California

[ceruleanvulpine]

huge respect to @myxinidaes for reblogging that post with 100 birds

[zeddpool]

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY TO THE CALIFORNIA CONDOR MOTHERS WHO JUST SUCCESSFULLY LAID AND HATCHED EGGS WITHOUT A MALE!!!

THE CALIFORNIA CONDOR IS CRITICALLY ENDANGERED, WITH ONLY ABOUT 500 LIVING IN THE WILD TODAY, AND THIS GIVES NEW HOPE FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE SPECIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ninboyfriend]

I wonder what it’s like for this person to be the only person in human history who will ever think or write these words in this order