Range: Though they once ranged from British Columbia to northern Baja California, now only found in Big Sur, southern and central California, and Arizona.
Habitat: Large areas of remote country with isolated rocky outcrops and cliffs.
Description: Mostly bald head and neck with skin in shades of pink, red, orange, yellow, and light blue (the color changes with the birds’ emotions). Feathers are mostly black, with white under-wing linings. Weighing more than 20 pounds, and with a wing spread of more than nine feet, they are one of the largest flying birds in the world. The beak is long, sharp, and powerful.
Adaptations/Habitat: Condors do not have vocal cords so they force air through their body to make hissing and grunting noises, and when scared, they regurgitate (throw up) their stomach contents.
Breeding/Growth: These monogamous birds, once paired, may take up to three years to begin breeding. They nest in caves among boulders on cliffs, and the female will lay a single aqua-colored egg on the cave floor. The parents share duties in caring for the chick during the 54 to 58 day incubation.
Diet: Consists of medium and large-sized dead mammals (carrion) like cattle, sheep, deer, horses, and marine mammals in any state of decay. Condors may travel several hundred miles in search of food, which they find by sight or by following other scavenging birds. On average, condors consume two to three pounds of meat each time they eat.
