gryphus), but, due to the Andean condor's slightly different markings, slightly longer wings, and tendency to kill small animals to eat, the California condor has been placed in its own monotypic genus. It was originally classified in the same genus as the Andean condor ( V. The California condor was described by English naturalist George Shaw in 1797 as Vultur californianus Archibald Menzies collected the type specimen "from the coast of California" during the Vancouver expedition. Taxonomy Frederick Polydore Nodder's illustration accompanying George Shaw's 1797 species description The condor is a significant bird to many Californian Native American groups and plays an important role in several of their traditional myths. A current estimation of a population of 558 is provided by the non-profit Ventana Wildlife Society on their website. By 31 December 2022, the National Park Service gave a total world population of 561. Since then, their population has grown, but the California condor remains one of the world's rarest bird species. Numbers rose through captive breeding, and beginning in 1991, condors were reintroduced into the wild. These surviving birds were bred at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. A conservation plan put in place by the United States government led to the capture of all the remaining wild condors by 1987, with a total population of 27 individuals. Ĭondor numbers dramatically declined in the 20th century due to agricultural chemicals ( DDT), poaching, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction. It is one of the world's longest-living birds, with a lifespan of up to 60 years. The condor is a scavenger and eats large amounts of carrion. Its 3.0 m (9.8 ft) wingspan is the widest of any North American bird, and its weight of up to 12 kg (26 lb) nearly equals that of the trumpeter swan, the heaviest among native North American bird species. The plumage is black with patches of white on the underside of the wings the head is largely bald, with skin color ranging from gray on young birds to yellow and bright orange on breeding adults. The species is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as Critically Endangered, and similarly considered Critically Imperiled by NatureServe. It is the only surviving member of the genus Gymnogyps, although four extinct members of the genus are also known. It became extinct in the wild in 1987 when all remaining wild individuals were captured, but has since been reintroduced to northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains of California, and northern Baja California in Mexico. The California condor ( Gymnogyps californianus) is a New World vulture and the largest North American land bird.
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