October 8, 2004
Condor Numbers Update
Condor Update as of October 8, 2004:
Attached below are the October 1 condor numbers, forwarded to us by Marker Marshall, Park Ranger at the Grand Canyon.
They've finally officially given up on #176, missing since February, which brings the worldwide total down to 246 and the total wild population in this area down to 46. That gives us 41 free-flying condors plus 2 nestlings plus 3 birds being held temporarily in the flight pen at Vermillion Cliffs. Other changes: 6 birds were released at Big Sur on September 25, bringing CA's wild population up to 51. It'll soon be 57 if all goes well, since there is a release of 6 condors from Pinnacles National Monument scheduled for October 15. And the AZ population will jump to 49 on October 16 (if things go as planned), when 3 of the 6 remaining one-year-olds are released from Vermillion Cliffs. That's #291 (tag 91), #293 (tag -3), and #316 (tag 16). For tabular statistics on all condors, regularly updated, go to CA Dept of Fish & Game.
After conversations with Chad Olson of Grand Canyon Science Center and Tom Lord of Peregrine Fund I can add a few bits of news. Record numbers of condors--up to 13 or 14 at a time--have been spending time up in Utah this summer and fall, mostly around the Kolob Canyon area, in and around Zion National Park. There have been some range sheep dying, probably related to the drought, on private land in that area. Chris Parish of Peregrine Fund also mentions in his August Notes from the Field (click here to see these) that there are a lot of deer around there, especially in winter, and it stays fairly warm. So it will be interesting to see if that remains a popular spot this winter. Condors have also found several deer carcasses during the recent bow-hunting season on the North Kaibab. Not surprisingly, they've been seen a little less regularly around the South Rim lately.
One of the females released this March 20, #300 (tag 00), has been missing since September 8th. She has been a bit of a loner, so one hopes she's just out on a long solo flight or maybe her transmitters are both dead. If you see her, please call in the sighting to Peregrine Fund at (928)355-2270!
Last year's chick, #305, is mostly hanging out between Mojave Point and the Bright Angel Lodge area. He has been seen with a full crop on several occasions, so apparently he's finding food successfully (although one can't rule out that his parents could be feeding him).
The one remaining chick in the wild in CA and the two here seem to be doing fine. There are some concerns that the chick in CA may well have some trash in its belly based on the foraging habits of its mother. But it seems to be o.k. and it's quite possible that condor chicks can handle a fair amount of trash if there's nothing toxic included and nothing gets punctured. (Zinc toxicity and a punctured gut have killed two nestlings in California in the last couple of years.) The chick in rehab for a broken wing since August seemed to be in excellent health otherwise, despite 35 bottlecaps in its gizzard. The final necropsy on the wild chick that fell and died in August was inconclusive, but showed no sign of toxins other than a somewhat high copper level in the blood. It's quite likely that it died of heat stroke outside the shelter of its nest cave, or possibly from trauma caused by the fall. We'll know more about this year's chicks soon, since the CA nestling should fledge by the end of the month and the 2 AZ nestlings should fledge by the end of November, if all goes well!
--Marker Marshall
Park Ranger--Interpretation
Grand Canyon National Park