A holdover from prehistoric times, the great condor is one of our largest and most magnificent birds -- and one of the rarest. Soaring over wilderness crags, feeding on carcasses of large dead animals, reproducing very slowly, it was not well suited to survival in modern-day southern California. Headed toward extinction in the 1980s, the last birds were brought in from the wild in 1987, to be bred in captivity for eventual release into the wild again. The captive breeding program turned out to be surprisingly successful, and flocks of released condors are surviving in several areas of California and in the region of the Grand Canyon.

Conservation status:  Decline in numbers was already evident to observers by 1890. Early causes included shooting; also, many condors died in traps or at poisoned carcasses put out to kill large predators. In more recent years, poisoning (including lead poisoning), shooting, and collisions with power lines were among causes of death. Numbers remaining were estimated at about 60 in 1965, fewer than 25 in 1982. In mid-1980s, all remaining wild condors were caught for captive breeding. This breeding program succeeded quite well in raising the numbers of captives, suggesting that it might be possible to reestablish a wild population again. By the mid-1990s, attempts were being made to introduce some of the captive-bred condors into the wild.

Family:  New World Vultures

Habitat:  Wild open country, rugged hills. At one time, ranged over much of the west, from mountains and valleys to the coast. On its last stand in California, the condor foraged over open grassland and savannah, and nested in rugged mountainous terrain with forest and steep cliffs.