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73-565: It is a major mountain range in the long Peninsular Ranges System, that extends from Southern California down the Baja California Peninsula into Baja California Sur state. The range's highest peak is Picacho del Diablo at 3,096 m (10,157 ft) in elevation. Also known as Cerro de la Encantada (Enchanted Mountain) and Picacho la Providencia (Providence Peak), it is the highest point in Baja California state and of

146-444: A founder population of California condors. 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 , Gymnogyps californianus amplus . Opinions are mixed, regarding the classification of the form as either a chronospecies or a separate species, Gymnogyps amplus . Gymnogyps amplus occurred over much of

219-699: A geologic province known as the Salinian Block which broke off the North American Plate as the San Andreas Fault and Gulf of California came into being. Between this set of ranges and the Transverse Ranges is the complex Malibu Coast—Santa Monica— Hollywood fault , which exists as the border between these two mostly geologically unitary provinces. Most of the Peninsular Ranges are in

292-793: 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 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

365-494: A long life span, reaching up to 60 years. If it survives to adulthood, the condor has few natural threats other than humans. Because they lack a syrinx , their vocal display is limited to grunts and hisses. Condors bathe frequently and can spend hours a day preening their feathers. Condors also perform urohidrosis , or defecate on their legs, to reduce their body temperature . There is a well-developed social structure within large groups of condors, with competition to determine

438-498: 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. Condors begin to look for a mate when they reach sexual maturity at the age of 6. 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

511-725: 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. 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

584-460: A serious and preventable threat to condors and other wildlife. Premature condor death may also occur due to contact with golden eagles , whose talons enable defense of carrion against condors. Evidence from condor release efforts also suggests golden eagles may occasionally kill condors. Collision with power lines can also result in condor death. Since 1994, captive-bred California condors have been trained to avoid power lines and people. Since

657-590: A significant threat to condors and other avian and terrestrial scavengers Fragmented lead ammunition in large game waste is highly problematic for condors due to their extremely strong digestive juices. Blood-lead analysis of wild condors showed lead isotope signature matches to ammunition purchased by researchers near the range of the affected condors. In California, the Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act went into effect July 1, 2008, requiring that hunters use non-lead ammunition when hunting in

730-765: A single surrogate mature condor who raises them. Due to the endangered status of the California condor, all 17 chicks are to be released into the wild. Wild condors maintain a large home range, often traveling 250 km (160 mi) a day in search of carrion . 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

803-545: 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 . In 1988, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service began

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876-508: A small, distant airplane, which possibly occurs more often than that they are mistaken for other bird species. 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 than to birds of prey and Old World vultures , which use their feet as weapons or organs of prehension . At

949-399: A syndrome presenting with 14 rather than the typical 12 tail feathers. A 2021 study found a surprising degree of genomic diversity in condors, however. Such data allow refinement to conservation strategies, helping mitigate the effects of inbreeding. One of the study's authors hopes to complete genomic analysis of all 22 individuals from which all living condors descend. Lead poisoning is

1022-478: A week to leave the shell completely. 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. Ravens are the main predatory threat to condor eggs, while golden eagles and bears are potential predators of condor offspring. In 2021,

1095-511: Is a New World vulture and the largest North American land bird. It became extinct in the wild in 1987 when all remaining wild individuals were captured, but has since been reintroduced to 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

1168-526: 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. 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 . The condor's head has little to no feathers, which helps keep it clean when feeding on carrion. The skin of

1241-507: 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). 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. Most measurements are from birds raised in captivity, so it

1314-414: 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 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

1387-550: Is endemic to the Sierra. The canyons of the lower eastern Sierra de Pedro Mártir are the southernmost of natural distribution of the California fan palm ( Washingtonia filifera ). Native oaks include coast live oak ( Quercus agrifolia ), canyon live oak ( Quercus chrysolepis ), Engelmann oak ( Quercus engelmannii ), and Baja oak ( Quercus peninsularis ). Baja California rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss nelsoni ) are native to

1460-615: Is in the Peninsular Ranges in San Diego County , as are Viejas Mountain and the San Ysidro Mountains . The Peninsular Ranges run predominantly north-south, unlike the Transverse Ranges to their north, which mostly run east-west. Rocks in the ranges are dominated by Mesozoic granitic rocks , derived from the same massive batholith which forms the core of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. They are part of

1533-431: Is located at an elevation of 2,830 m (9,280 ft) in the range. The astronomical complex was built in 1975. It has several large telescopes , the largest of which is 2.12 m (83 in) in diameter. The observatory's site takes advantage of the high elevation, along with typically clear skies, low relative humidity, low atmospheric pollution, low light pollution, and low levels of radio interference. The range

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1606-534: Is the widest of any North American bird, and its weight of up to 12 kg (26 lb) nearly equals that of the trumpeter swan , the heaviest among native North American bird species. The condor is a 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. Condor numbers dramatically declined in the 20th century due to agricultural chemicals ( DDT ), poaching , lead poisoning , and habitat destruction . A conservation plan put in place by

1679-677: The American Southwest and West Coast . Faunal remains of condors have been found documented in Arizona , Nevada , New Mexico , and Texas. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of the early 19th century reported on their sighting and shooting of California condors near the mouth of the Columbia River . In the 1970s, two Condor Observation Sites were established in the Santa Clara River Valley to host hopeful birders interested in

1752-602: The Baja California desert ecoregion flora. The flora is distinct from that of 'mainland' Mexico across the Gulf of California to the east, and shares many species with the Laguna Mountains and Cuyamaca Mountains , also Peninsular Ranges, in San Diego County, California . Typical conifer species include white fir , sugar pine and Jeffrey pine . The critically endangered San Pedro Mártir cypress ( Hesperocyparis montana )

1825-591: The Lower California province ) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch 1,500 km (930 mi) from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula ; they are part of the North American Pacific Coast Ranges , which run along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. Elevations range from 150 to 3,300 m (500 to 10,834 ft). The Peninsular Ranges include

1898-483: The Nearctic realm . Several terrestrial ecoregions cover portions of the Peninsular Ranges. On the western side of the northern portion of the ranges, the California montane chaparral and woodlands sub-ecoregion of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers southern California and northern Baja California. On the western side of the southern portion of the ranges, the Baja California desert ecoregion covers

1971-657: The Peninsular Ranges System. Parque Nacional Sierra de San Pedro Mártir protects an area of 650 km (250 sq mi) in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir. It was established by presidential decree in 1974, and the first of two national parks to be established on the Baja California Peninsula. The second is Parque Nacional Constitución de 1857 to the north, in the Sierra de Juárez and also in Baja California state. The National Astronomical Observatory

2044-549: The Santa Ana Mountains , Temescal Mountains , and other mountains and ranges of the Perris Block , San Jacinto Mountains , and Laguna Mountains of southern California continuing from north to south with the Sierra de Juárez , Sierra de San Pedro Mártir , Sierra de San Borja , Sierra de San Francisco , Sierra de la Giganta , and Sierra de la Laguna in Baja California. Palomar Mountain , home to Palomar Observatory ,

2117-719: The Vermilion Cliffs release site in Arizona near the Grand Canyon. 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. Though the birth rate remains low in the wild, their numbers are increasing steadily through regular releases of captive-reared adolescents. In modern times, numerous causes have contributed to

2190-618: 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 . 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

2263-542: 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-9,

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2336-486: The California Condor Reintroduction Program. Indigestible trash can cause impaction, starvation, and death if affected condors do not receive timely medical intervention. Parent birds may unintentionally feed microtrash to nestlings, which some research has shown to be the leading cause of death among wild condor nestlings. In 2023, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) infected members of

2409-634: The California condor has been placed in its own monotypic genus . The generic name Gymnogyps is derived from the Greek gymnos /γυμνος "naked" or "bare", and gyps /γυψ "vulture", while the specific name californianus comes from its location in California. The word condor itself is derived from the Quechua word kuntur . The exact taxonomic placement of the California condor and the other six species of New World vultures remains unclear. Though similar in appearance and ecological roles to Old World vultures ,

2482-441: The California condor's decline, both before and after recovery efforts began. For example, between 1992 and 2013, 237 condor deaths occurred in the wild population. The leading cause of mortality in condor nestlings is the ingestion of trash that is fed to them by their parents. Among juveniles and adults, lead poisoning (from eating animal carcasses containing lead shot) is the leading cause of death. Significant past damage to

2555-694: 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. By June 2014, the condor population had reached 439: 225 in the wild and 214 in captivity. Official statistics from the December 2016 USFWS recorded an overall population of 446, of which 276 are wild and 170 are captive. A key milestone

2628-579: 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 . More recent authorities maintain their overall position in the order Falconiformes along with the Old World vultures or place them in their own order, Cathartiformes. The South American Classification Committee has removed

2701-605: The New World vultures from Ciconiiformes and instead placed them in Incertae sedis , but notes that a move to Falconiformes or Cathartiformes is possible. As of the 51st Supplement (2010) of the American Ornithologists' Union, the California condor is in the family Cathartidae of the order Cathartiformes . The genus Gymnogyps is an example of a relict distribution. During the Pleistocene Epoch, this genus

2774-520: The Peninsular Ranges harbor many rare and endemic species. Southern Baja California Sur is part of the Neotropical realm . The southern end of the Baja California Peninsula, including the Sierra de la Laguna Peninsular Range, was, like the rest of the peninsula, originally part of the Mexican mainland. It was sheared off the mainland, becoming at one time an island, and evolved in relative isolation from

2847-569: 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. Earlier evidence of similar parthenogenesis in birds found that among

2920-540: The United States government led to the capture of all the remaining wild condors by 1987, with a total population of 27 individuals. These surviving birds were bred at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo . Numbers rose through captive breeding , and beginning in 1991, condors were reintroduced into the wild. Since then, their population has grown, but the California condor remains one of

2993-532: The Utah-Arizona flock, killing 21 condors (including 13 individuals from 8 breeding pairs). Other individuals were released back into the wild following medical treatment. Sixteen condors were treated as part of a vaccine trial. As of 2 February 2024, 94 condors had received at least the first of two doses of the vaccine. During routine winter trapping intended to assess lead levels, blood samples collected from 21 condors were tested for HPAI antibodies. About half

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3066-510: 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. As the climate changed during the last ice age , the entire population became smaller until it had evolved into the Gymnogyps californianus of today, although more recent studies by Syverson question that theory. The adult California condor

3139-415: The bodies of smaller mammals such as rabbits , squirrels , and 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. Since they do not have a sense of smell , they spot these corpses by looking for other scavengers, like eagles and smaller vultures ,

3212-509: The chick or egg is lost or removed, the 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 (or even third) egg, which the condors are sometimes allowed to raise. 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

3285-770: The condor in the Los Padres. 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). 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. The California condor has

3358-546: The condor population has also been attributed to poaching , DDT poisoning, electric power lines , egg collecting , and habitat destruction . During the California Gold Rush , some condors were even kept as pets. Its low clutch size (one young per nest) and late age of sexual maturity (≈6 years) make the bird vulnerable to artificial population decline. Inbreeding may be causing increased incidence of fatal chondrodystrophic dwarfism in wild condors, as well as

3431-422: The condor's range. 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. There is no comparable anti-lead-bullet legislation in the other states in which the condor resides. In 2015, Bruce Rideout, director of

3504-546: The cost was too great. 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. The capture of the remaining wild condors was completed on Easter Sunday 1987, when AC-9, the last wild condor, was captured. At that point, there were only 22 surviving condors, all of them in captivity. The goal of

3577-1256: The eastern ( Gulf of California ) side of the southern portion of the ranges, the Gulf of California xeric scrub ecoregion covers the range in Baja California Sur. The higher portions of the Peninsular Ranges, especially the west-facing slopes, are home to coniferous and mixed evergreen forests . Cleveland National Forest covers much of the higher Southern California Peninsular Ranges. The vegetation includes oak woodlands and forests of Jeffrey pine ( Pinus jeffreyi ) and Coulter pine ( Pinus coulteri ) . The Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests cover upper slopes of Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir ranges in Baja California. These isolated forests, predominantly tamarack pine ( Pinus contorta subsp. murrayana ) , sugar pine ( Pinus lambertiana ) , Parry pinyon (Pinus quadrifolia) , white fir ( Abies concolor ) , California incense cedar ( Calocedrus decurrens ) , and junipers . Oak species include coast live oak ( Quercus agrifolia ) , Engelmann oak ( Quercus engelmannii ) , canyon live oak ( Quercus chrysolepis ) , and Baja oak ( Quercus peninsularis ) . These higher portions of

3650-490: 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 ". The California condor lives in rocky shrubland , coniferous forest , and oak savanna . They are often found near cliffs or large trees, which they use as nesting sites. Individual birds have

3723-462: The entire Baja California Peninsula. The range is a drainage divide that demarcates the drainages flowing west into the Pacific Ocean or east into the Gulf of California for this section of the Baja California Peninsula. Snow is usually present at the highest elevations in the winter. The Sierra de Juárez are on the north, and Sierra de San Francisco are on the south, both are also part of

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3796-503: The female. If the female lowers her head to accept the male, the condors become mates for life. 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 to as late as April. The egg weighs about 280 grams (10 oz) and measures from 90 to 120 mm (3.5 to 4.7 in) in length and about 67 mm (2.6 in) in width. If

3869-548: The final wild California condor, and her dedication to the bird's conservation led her to compile decades of field notes into the Condor Archives, a searchable database focused on condor biology and conservation. The captive breeding program, led by the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Los Angeles Zoo , and with other participating zoos around the country, including the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden , got off to

3942-402: The head and neck is capable of flushing noticeably in response to emotional state. The skin color varies from yellowish to a glowing reddish-orange. The birds do not have true syringeal vocalizations. They can make a few hissing or grunting sounds only heard when very close. The female condor is smaller than the male, an exception to the rule among birds of prey (the related Andean condor

4015-603: The headwaters of Rio Santo Domingo in the Sierra San Pedro Mártir. Desert bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis nelsoni ) also live in the range. California condors , zoo-bred from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park condor program, were reintroduced into the Sierra San Pedro Martir in 2002, the first time seen in the range since 1937. Each year, a small group of young California condors are selected from

4088-471: The implementation of this aversion conditioning program, the number of condor deaths due to power lines has greatly decreased. "Being vultures, condors not only eat dead animals but they also have been observed eating small pieces of bone [which is especially crucial during the egg-laying period]. Although extremely intelligent, condors can’t always tell the difference between small pieces of trash and pieces of bone," according to Tim Hauck, Project Director for

4161-505: 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. In July 2024, the LA Zoo reported that a record-setting 17 California condor chicks hatched during the year's breeding season, crediting the surge on novel breeding and rearing techniques developed by their condor team. The technique involves introducing 2 to 3 chicks to

4234-561: 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. In the wild they are intermittent eaters, often going for between a few days to two weeks without eating, then gorging themselves on 1–1.5 kilograms (2.2–3.3 lb) of meat at once. The California condor conservation project may be one of

4307-407: The most expensive species conservation projects in United States history, costing over $ 35 million, including $ 20 million in federal and state funding, since World War II . As of 2007, the annual cost for the condor conservation program was around $ 2.0 million per year. Successful reintroduction of captive-bred condors into the wild has become a multi-step and complex process, fraught with

4380-419: The need to periodically recapture the birds to test for lead poisoning and sometimes the necessity for lead removal by chelation . As the condor's population continued to decline, discussion began 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

4453-496: The northern part of the peninsula and ranges. Its flora and fauna share many affinities with southern Mexico and Central America . It includes three distinct ecoregions, the Sierra de la Laguna dry forests , Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests , and San Lucan xeric scrub . 29°57′N 114°43′W  /  29.95°N 114.72°W  / 29.95; -114.72 California condor Genus-level: Species-level: The California condor ( Gymnogyps californianus )

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4526-433: The pool of birds being bred by the Los Angeles Zoo , San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Oregon Zoo , and The Peregrine Fund for release to the wild. Annual releases range from four to seven zoo-bred birds. As of 2022 there were about 40 condors living in the Sierra. 30°45′N 115°13′W  /  30.750°N 115.217°W  / 30.750; -115.217 Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called

4599-477: The samples showed the presence of antibodies to the H5N1 strain of HPAI, indicating these birds were exposed to the virus and survived naturally. Nesting milestones have been reached by the reintroduced condors. In 2003, the first nestling fledged in the wild since 1981. 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

4672-591: The southern portion of the Peninsular Ranges in Baja California and Baja California Sur . On the eastern side of the northern ranges, the Sonoran Desert ecoregion covers southeastern California and northeastern Baja California as far south as the town of Loreto , Baja California Sur . On the eastern side of the Laguna Mountains in San Diego County , Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is known for its springtime profusion of Colorado Desert (Sonoran) wildflowers. On

4745-532: 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. 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

4818-593: The wild (one egg every year or two), the population is very poorly suited to withstand the neurotoxic effects of lead exposure." 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." While researchers and veterinarians involved in the condor recovery program note that hunters who use lead-free ammunition actually provide critical sources of food for condors and other scavengers, they caution that using lead ammunition presents

4891-437: The wildlife disease laboratories for San Diego Zoo Global, indicated that lead poisoning is the most common cause of death for juvenile and adult condors in the wild. Among wild deaths with known causes between 1992 and 2013, over 60% (excluding chicks and fledglings) have been as a result of lead poisoning. Due to condors' long lifespan (over 50 years) and relatively late age of sexual maturity (≈6 years), and small clutch size in

4964-461: The world's rarest bird species. By 31 December 2023, the Fish and Wildlife Service had updated the total world population of 561. A May 2024 population estimate of 561 is provided by the non-profit Ventana Wildlife Society on their website. The condor is a significant bird to many Californian Native American groups and plays an important role in several of their traditional myths . The California condor

5037-748: Was a site considered for construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope , now tentatively planned for a controversial site on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. In 1889, there was a gold rush in the Santa Clara mountains about 100 kilometres (60 mi) southeast of Ensenada . Sierra de San Pedro Mártir has a very similar flora to the Sierra de Juárez on the north. Higher elevations have Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests ecoregion flora, which are surrounded at lower elevations by California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion flora, and at lowest elevations by

5110-465: Was 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 . It was originally classified in the same genus as the Andean condor ( V. gryphus ), but, due to the Andean condor's slightly different markings, slightly longer wings, and tendency to kill small animals to eat,

5183-794: Was reached in 2015 when more condors were born in the wild than died. 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. In early 2007, a California condor laid an egg in Mexico for the first time since at least the 1930s. 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. In

5256-603: Was the first time in more than 100 years that a pair of California condors had been seen nesting in Northern California. In October 2010, the wild condor population reached 100 individuals in its namesake state of California, plus 73 wild condors in Arizona. In November 2011, there were 394 living individuals, 205 of them in the wild and the rest in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the Santa Barbara Zoo ,

5329-776: 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. 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

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