Event is first of its kind in more than 100 years
Biologists this week announced that a California condor egg
hatched in Pinnacles National Monument for the first time in more
than a century.
Two 7-year-old condors that were released along the Big Sur
coast by the Ventana Wildlife Society were seen in courtship
displays during the winter and paired up for their first breeding
attempt.
Event is first of its kind in more than 100 years
Biologists this week announced that a California condor egg hatched in Pinnacles National Monument for the first time in more than a century.
Two 7-year-old condors that were released along the Big Sur coast by the Ventana Wildlife Society were seen in courtship displays during the winter and paired up for their first breeding attempt.
National Park Service Wildlife Biologist Daniel George reports that the first-time parent condors have been exhibiting normal behavior, regularly feeding and incubating the nestling.
“It is really great to see a condor that we have invested so much time and effort in, now breeding in the wild,” said Joe Burnett, a condor biologist with the Ventana Wildlife Society, in a press release.
Pinnacles Superintendent Eric Brunnemann said the nesting condors “chose a nest cave that can easily be viewed by the public from the Scout Peak bench on the High Peaks Trail,” though the areas surrounding the cliff will be closed to public use for the duration of the nesting period.
Biologists will monitor the nest during the breeding cycle, as nestlings remain flightless for up to six months.
Park Service biologists say that if the condor parents succeed in rearing the young condor, it could take its first flight by early October.
There have been six groups of condors released at Pinnacles.
