Rare condor chick takes first flight in San Benito County

By Sandra M. Chung
schung@...
If they were human first-time parents, Condor 303 and Condor 313 might
be experiencing the beginnings of empty nest syndrome.

Their adopted chick, the first condor hatched in San Benito County in 70
years, recently took his first flight, the Ventana Wildlife Society news
office reported Thursday.

According to the news office, on Oct. 17, RS Bar Guest Ranch Manager
Jason Bumann spotted Condor 514 on a cliff near the nest where he
hatched. Bumann said the 6-month-old male condor could not have reached
the cliff without flying. The nest and cliff are on the ranch 12 miles
east of Pinnacles National Monument in San Benito County.

"It's a terrific indicator of the success of the wild breeding
programs," said Mark Paxton, vice president of the Pinnacles
Partnership, a nonprofit preservation society for Pinnacles National
Monument.

A statewide breeding program has helped to bring the endangered
California condor population back from a low of 22 in 1982 to 356 birds
this July. Condor 514's foster parents are among the 42 condors released
and living wild in Central California.

With a nearly 10-foot wingspan, the rare bird cuts an impressive figure
in the sky. If it were so inclined, an adult condor could touch the
ground with one wingtip and dunk a basketball with the other.

Condor 514 is one of four chicks reared in central California this year.
He hatched on April 18 from an egg that was laid and incubated in the
Los Angeles Zoo.

"We're doing everything we can to maximize the opportunities that we can
to see that these breeding pairs succeed," said Kelly Sorenson, head of
the locally based Ventana Wildlife Society, which reintroduces
captive-bred condors to the wild in Big Sur. The breeding program is
halfway to its stated goal of 150 free-flying birds and 15 breeding
pairs statewide, Sorenson said.

"Our goal is to eventually let go and not intervene with the birds in
the wild," Sorenson said.
Additional Facts ONLINE
* www.nps.gov/pinn/nature®science/condors.htm
* mycondor.blogspot.com


www.mycondor.org <http://www.mycondor.org>









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