August 26, 2015

Live From a California Condor Nest!

Our newest cam focuses on one of the most iconic and hard-to-observe species in North America: the California Condor. The cliffside nest cavity on camera in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary is home to a 5-month old condor (wing tagged #93), who is the offspring of a 21-year old female (#111) and a 6-year old male (#509). Learn more about the condors on cam.

This live stream is the product of a long-term collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Santa Barbara Zoo, and the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology.

In 1982, only 22 California Condors survived world-wide. By spring of 1987, all remaining wild condors had been placed in captivity, thus beginning an intensive recovery effort among government agencies, zoos and other conservation groups to save the California Condor from extinction. In 1992, the Service began reintroducing captive-bred condors into the wild and with the help of public and private partners the total population has grown to approximately 430 birds, with more than half of the population flying free. Learn more about condor conservation.

This year, the California Condor Recovery Program celebrated a milestone in endangered species recovery with a record 19 wild condor nests in California. Biologists with the Service began using cams to remotely monitor the nests of condors in 2010, and this year we were able to help bring the live view to Bird Cams viewers everywhere.

The Condor Cam runs from dawn to dusk, and you can expect to see the growing condor chick stretch its wings and feet in unique yoga-like poses and interact energetically with its attentive parents during their nest visits (watch video highlight). Off-camera, the persistent calls of Acorn Woodpeckers, Stellar’s Jays, and Common Ravens provide the auditory backdrop that helps make you feel like you’ve got your own cliffside seat.

Condor chicks can be very curious, and we’re excited to share their little-known world with you. We’ll be posting updates on the Condor Cam twitter feed and the Bird Cams Facebook page so you don’t miss anything important. Thanks for watching!