Condor chick flies over Pinnacles

California condor chick #828 is a little advanced for her age. The five-and-a-half month old endangered bird left the nest one month earlier than expected and flew over Pinnacles National Park this week.

Rachel Wolstenholme, Condor Program Manager at the park in Southern Monterey County, is calling it an “historic flight.”

Park biologists and volunteers have been observing the nest in a remote location in the park since February, when her parents began incubating the egg.

#828 is the female offspring of male condor #340 and female condor #236, both released into the wild through a partnership between the National Park Service and the Ventana Wildlife Society.

“Now that their chick has left the nest , she will remain close to her parents as she learns where to go to forage for food and how to interact with over 85 other condors in central California,” according to the press release issued today by the Condor Program at Pinnacles National Park.

California condors nearly became extinct in the 1980’s, but the federal government and conservation groups stepped in to help save the species. The surviving condors, the largest land bird in North America, were placed in a captive breeding program. By 1992, captive-bred condors were re-introduced to the wild.

“Condors nesting in the wild and surviving on their own is what it’s all about and this is yet another milestone towards that goal,” said Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the Ventana Wildlife Society

Today, lead poisoning from fragments of lead ammunition is the biggest challenge the scavengers face, according to wildlife experts.

“Shooters who have switched to non-lead ammunition have made an invaluable contribution to the health of all scavenging wildlife,” said Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the Ventana Wildlife Society, quoted in the press release issued today.