A Mysterious Condor in the Wild

When it comes to the most well-researched bird in North America, few, if any, can top the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus). This critically endangered new world vulture was on the brink of extinction, primarily due to lead poisoning, until 1987 when all remaining condors in the wild (only 27 birds!) were captured, launching one of the most expensive species conservation projects in United States history. The premise of this conservation program was the initiation of an extensive captive breeding program. Once condor numbers grew in captivity, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service began reintroducing condors in the wild, around 1991 and 1992. It hasn’t been an easy journey for the largest bird in North America to get her wings off the ground, but eventually in 2003, the first nestling fledged in the wild since 1981.

All reintroduced condors are fitted with a numbered and colored radio or a GPS/Satellite tag on each wing, allowing researchers to track and identify condors in the wild.  Once a condor pair establishes a nest, researchers monitor the nest to see if it is successful, as in eggs are laid, hatched, and nestlings are fledged. While nestlings are still small, intrepid biologists scale cliffs to the nests, with the help of climbing gear and a healthy dose of courage, so they can attach wing tags to the nestlings and monitor them once they leave the nest and are in the wild. If the nest is too unsafe for human entry, fledglings are trapped and tagged that way. This means that essentially every California condor has an identity and a history and there is no mystery at all as to who it is and where it came from…except for one.

Earlier this year, biologists at Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California, spotted an untagged juvenile California condor on the refuge! Its lineage is only speculation at this point, but it could be tied to the oldest condor in the wild, #20 or AC-4, as it was observed being fed by this legend of condors. Last year #20 paired with #654 and established a nest; however, #654 went missing in the wild and was presumed dead at the time their egg would have hatched. The GPS unit on #20’s wing tag also stopped transmitting at this time, although the radio tag was still functioning so biologists were able to occasionally get a somewhat inaccurate reading on this bird. It was assumed that the egg in this nest would become unviable, as it is unlikely that one parent could fulfill the intense incubation and brooding needs of an egg and nestling. Eventually #20 was recaptured and fitted with a new GPS tracker, and biologists observed him making regular trips back to his territory throughout the spring and summer, which is not uncommon for a bird continuing to maintain his territory. However, based on the interactions between #20 and the untagged juvenile condor, researchers are now wondering if #20 was indeed returning to his nest and tending to his egg and nestling last spring, a herculean parental feat for a single condor dad. If #20 was able to forage quickly and return to the nest to tend to his chick, perhaps this egg that was assumed to be doomed surpassed all odds and hatched into the little condor who could! And while we love to root for the underdog and believe in miracles, scientists need proof, so biologists on the refuge are hoping for an opportunity to trap this untagged juvenile and test its genetic lineage to determine exactly who this mysterious condor in the wild could be.