The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is a type of vulture found in the Americas and the largest bird in North America. It disappeared from the wild in 1987 when all the remaining wild birds were captured, but it has been reintroduced to northern Arizona, southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains of California, and northern Baja California in Mexico. It is the only living species in the genus Gymnogyps, though four other species in the same genus are now extinct. The species is classified by the IUCN as critically endangered and is also considered critically imperiled by NatureServe.
The bird has black feathers with white patches on the underside of its wings. Its head is mostly bald, with skin that is gray in young birds and turns yellow or bright orange in adult birds during breeding. Its wingspan reaches up to 3 meters (about 9.8 feet), the largest of any North American bird, and its weight can reach up to 12 kilograms (about 26 pounds), nearly matching that of the trumpeter swan, the heaviest bird in North America. The condor eats dead animals and is one of the longest-living birds, with a lifespan of up to 60 years.
The number of condors dropped sharply in the 20th century due to chemicals used in farming (such as DDT), hunting, lead poisoning, and loss of habitat. A conservation plan by the U.S. government led to capturing all remaining wild condors by 1987, when only 27 birds were left. These birds were bred in captivity at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. Their numbers increased through captive breeding, and in 1991, they were released back into the wild. Since then, their population has grown, but the California condor remains one of the rarest birds in the world. In December 2025, the Fish and Wildlife Service reported the global population as 607. The condor is important to many Native American groups in California and appears in several of their traditional stories.
Taxonomy
The California condor was first 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. At first, the California condor was grouped with the Andean condor (V. gryphus) in the same genus. However, because the Andean condor has slightly different markings, longer wings, and a habit of killing small animals for food, the California condor was later placed in its own monotypic genus. The genus name Gymnogyps comes from the Greek words gymnos ("naked" or "bare") and gyps ("vulture"). The species name californianus refers to the bird's location in California. The word "condor" is derived from the Quechua word kuntur.
The exact scientific classification of the California condor and the other six species of New World vultures is still uncertain. While these birds look and act similarly to Old World vultures, they evolved from a different ancestor in a different part of the world. Scientists debate how different the two groups are. Some earlier studies suggested New World vultures are more closely related to storks. More recent research places them in the order Falconiformes with Old World vultures or in their own order, Cathartiformes. The South American Classification Committee has moved New World vultures out of the order Ciconiiformes and placed them in Incertae sedis, noting that future studies may reclassify them into Falconiformes or Cathartiformes.
As of the 51st Supplement (2010) of the American Ornithologists' Union, the California condor is classified in the family Cathartidae of the order Cathartiformes.
The genus Gymnogyps is an example of a relict distribution, meaning it is now found in only a few areas but was once widespread. During the Pleistocene Epoch, Gymnogyps was common across the Americas. Fossils from the Early Pleistocene in Florida (Gymnogyps kofordi) and the Late Pleistocene in Peru (Gymnogyps howardae) have been identified. A condor found in Late Pleistocene deposits on Cuba was first named Antillovultur varonai but is now recognized as Gymnogyps varonai. This bird may have descended from a small group of California condors.
The California condor is the only living member of Gymnogyps and has no accepted subspecies. However, a Late Pleistocene form, sometimes called the palaeosubspecies Gymnogyps californianus amplus, has been identified. Some scientists consider this form a chronospecies (a species that gradually changes over time) or a separate species, Gymnogyps amplus. This bird lived across much of the condor’s historical range, including Florida, and was larger, weighing about the same as the Andean condor. It also had a wider bill. As climate changes occurred during the last ice age, the entire population may have become smaller over time, evolving into the modern Gymnogyps californianus. However, recent studies by Syverson question this theory.
Description
The adult California condor is mostly black, except for large white triangular patches or bands on the underside of its wings. It has gray legs and feet, an ivory-colored beak, a black feather frill around the base of its neck, and brownish-red eyes. Juvenile condors are mostly dark brown with black coloring on their heads. Instead of white, they have mottled gray on the underside of their flight feathers.
The condor’s head has few feathers, which helps keep it clean when eating dead animals. The skin on its head and neck can change color depending on its emotions, ranging from yellowish to a bright reddish-orange. These birds do not make sounds from their throats. They can only make a few hissing or grunting noises, which are heard only when very close.
Female condors are smaller than males, which is unusual for birds of prey (the Andean condor is another exception). The bird’s total length ranges from 109 to 140 cm (43 to 55 inches), and its wingspan ranges from 2.49 to 3 meters (8 ft 2 in to 9 ft 10 in). Their weight ranges from 7 to 14.1 kg (15 to 31 lb), with an average of 8 to 9 kg (18 to 20 lb). Wingspans up to 3.4 meters (11 ft) have been reported, but none over 3.05 meters (10 ft) have been confirmed. Most measurements come from birds raised in captivity, making it hard to know if wild and captive condors differ greatly.
California condors have the largest wingspan of any North American bird. They are only heavier than the trumpeter swan and the introduced mute swan. The American white pelican and whooping crane also have longer bodies than condors. Because they are so large, condors can sometimes be mistaken for a small, distant airplane, which may happen more often than being mistaken for other birds.
The middle toe on the California condor’s foot is much longer than the others, and the back toe is only slightly developed. The claws on all toes are straight and blunt, making them better for walking than gripping. This feature is more similar to their possible relatives, the storks, than to birds of prey or Old World vultures, which use their feet to catch or hold prey.
Historic range
At the time humans first settled in the Americas, the California condor lived in many places across North America. Scientists have found condor bones from the late Pleistocene era at the Cutler Fossil Site in southern Florida. However, when the last glacial period ended, many large animals went extinct, which caused the condor’s range and numbers to shrink. Five hundred years ago, the California condor lived in the American Southwest and along the West Coast. Scientists have found evidence of condors in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. The Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early 1800s recorded seeing and shooting California condors near the mouth of the Columbia River.
In the 1970s, two Condor Observation Sites were created in the Santa Clara River Valley to help people see the endangered species. One site was about 15 miles north of Fillmore, California, near the Sespe Wildlife Area in Los Padres National Forest. The other was on Mount Pinos, which is reachable via a dirt road off the highway near Gorman.
Habitat
The California condor lives in rocky shrubland, coniferous forest, and oak savanna. These birds often stay near cliffs or large trees, which they use to build nests. Each bird can travel a large area and has been seen moving up to 250 kilometers (160 miles) to find dead animals.
Two special areas were chosen because they have the best places for condors to nest: the Sisquoc Condor Sanctuary in the San Rafael Wilderness and the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in the Los Padres National Forest.
The Los Padres Condor Range and River Protection Act of 1992 increased the size of existing wilderness areas by 34,200 hectares (84,400 acres) and set aside 127,900 hectares (316,050 acres) of new wilderness to create homes for the condor in the Los Padres region.
Ecology and behavior
The California condor has strong flight muscles, but its sternum is not large enough to support them fully. This limits the birds to flying mainly by gliding. They flap their wings when taking off from the ground, but once they reach a certain height, they glide for long distances without flapping. These birds can fly as fast as 90 km/h (56 mph) and reach heights of up to 4,600 m (15,100 ft). They often rest on high places, like cliffs, where they can take off with little effort. They are frequently seen near rock cliffs, using rising warm air called thermals to stay in the sky.
California condors can live up to 60 years. If they survive to adulthood, their main threats are humans, not other animals. They do not have a syrinx, so they can only make sounds like grunts and hisses. They bathe often and spend a lot of time preening their feathers. To cool their bodies, they sometimes defecate on their legs. Condors have a social structure where they use body language, play, and sounds to establish a hierarchy. This order is especially visible during feeding, with dominant birds eating first.
Condors begin looking for mates when they are 6 years old. During courtship, the male turns his head red and puffs out his neck feathers. He spreads his wings and slowly approaches the female. If the female lowers her head, they become mates for life. They build simple nests in caves or cliff crevices near trees and open spaces. A female lays one egg every other year, usually between January and April. The egg is about 280 grams (10 oz) and measures 90 to 120 mm (3.5 to 4.7 in) in length and 67 mm (2.6 in) in width. If an egg or chick is lost, the parents may lay another egg to replace it. Researchers sometimes take the first egg to encourage the parents to lay a second one, which can help increase the number of offspring.
After 53 to 60 days of incubation by both parents, the eggs hatch. Chicks are born with their eyes open and may take up to a week to fully leave the shell. They are covered in grayish feathers until they grow close to the size of their parents. They can fly at 5 to 6 months old but stay with their parents until they are about two years old. Ravens are the main threat to condor eggs, while golden eagles and bears may attack young condors.
In 2021, the San Diego Zoo reported that two unfertilized eggs hatched in 2001 and 2009 through a process called parthenogenesis, where an egg develops without a male. Genetic studies showed the offspring had only maternal DNA. These chicks did not live to sexual maturity. In July 2024, the LA Zoo reported that 17 condor chicks hatched in a single breeding season, thanks to new techniques. These methods involve placing 2 to 3 chicks with a single adult condor for care. All 17 chicks will be released into the wild due to the species’ endangered status.
Wild condors travel up to 250 km (160 mi) daily to find food. They once relied on large extinct animals but now eat the carcasses of large mammals like deer, goats, and cattle. They also eat smaller animals, such as rabbits and coyotes, and sometimes aquatic animals like whales or sea lions. They rarely eat birds or reptiles. Condors prefer fresh meat but will eat decaying food if needed. They find carcasses by watching other scavengers, like eagles and vultures, because they cannot smell. They often scare away other scavengers, except bears and golden eagles, which may fight them for food. Condors do not eat every day and may go up to two weeks without food before eating a large amount of meat at once.
Conservation
The California condor conservation project is one of the most expensive efforts to protect a species in U.S. history, costing more than $35 million, including $20 million from federal and state governments, since the end of World War II. By 2007, the program cost about $2 million each year. Reintroducing captive-bred condors into the wild is a complex process that requires regularly recapturing the birds to test for lead poisoning and sometimes removing lead from their bodies through a medical process.
As condor numbers dropped, people began discussing a captive breeding program. Some people opposed the plan, saying the birds should remain free, that capturing all condors would change their natural behaviors, and that the cost was too high. The U.S. government approved the project, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created the California Condor Recovery Program in 1979. The last wild condor, AC-9, was captured on Easter Sunday, 1987. At that time, only 22 condors remained, all in captivity. The goal of the recovery plan was to create two separate populations—one in California and one in Arizona—each with 150 birds and at least 15 breeding pairs.
The study and capture of the remaining condors was made possible by Jan Hamber, an ornithologist at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Hamber captured AC-9 and later collected years of research into the Condor Archives, a database about condor biology and conservation.
The captive breeding program, led by the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Los Angeles Zoo, with help from other zoos, faced early challenges because of the condors’ mating habits. Scientists used a method called "double clutching," where they removed the first egg from a nest and raised it with puppets, allowing the parents to lay a second egg.
The Condor Recovery Center at the Oakland Zoo treats sick condors suffering from lead poisoning.
In 1988, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tested releasing captive Andean condors in California. Only female Andean condors were released to avoid accidentally introducing a South American species to the U.S. The experiment was successful, and all the Andean condors were later returned to South America. California condors were released in 1991 and 1992 in California at Big Sur, Pinnacles National Park, and Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, and in 1996 in Arizona near the Grand Canyon. The Arizona condors were labeled as "experimental, nonessential" to avoid affecting land use regulations or development. Though wild condor birth rates remain low, their numbers are growing through regular releases of captive-reared young birds.
Many factors have contributed to the decline of California condors, both before and after recovery efforts began. Between 1992 and 2013, 237 condor deaths occurred in the wild. The main cause of death for young condors is eating trash fed to them by their parents. For juveniles and adults, lead poisoning from eating animal carcasses with lead bullets is the leading cause of death.
Past threats to condors include poaching, DDT poisoning, electric power lines, egg collecting, and habitat loss. During the California Gold Rush, some condors were kept as pets.
The condor’s small clutch size (one young per nest) and late age of sexual maturity (about 6 years) make it vulnerable to population declines. Inbreeding may cause health issues like a condition called chondrodystrophic dwarfism and a syndrome with 14 tail feathers instead of the usual 12. A 2021 study found that condors have more genetic diversity than expected, which helps improve conservation strategies. Researchers hope to analyze the DNA of all 22 condors from which all living condors descend.
Lead poisoning remains a major threat to condors and other scavengers. Lead bullets in large animal carcasses are dangerous because condors have strong stomachs that can break down lead. Blood tests show that lead in wild condors matches bullets bought near their habitats. In California, the Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act, passed in 2008, requires hunters to use non-lead bullets in condor areas. This law has reduced lead exposure in other scavengers like golden eagles and turkey vultures. Other states where condors live do not have similar laws.
In 2015, Bruce Rideout, a wildlife disease expert, said lead poisoning is the most common cause of death for adult and juvenile condors in the wild. Between 1992 and 2013, over 60% of known wild condor deaths (excluding young birds) were due to lead poisoning. Because condors live over 50 years and begin breeding at about 6 years old, with only one egg every few years, their population is not well-suited to survive lead exposure.
Epidemiologist Terra Kelly says that until all natural food sources are free of lead bullets, lead poisoning will continue to threaten wild condor recovery. Hunters who use non-lead bullets help provide food for condors and other scavengers, but using lead bullets remains a serious and preventable danger to condors and wildlife.
Condors may also die from contact with golden eagles, though evidence suggests this happens rarely. Training captive-bred condors to avoid power lines and people has greatly reduced deaths from power line collisions since 1994.
Condors, like vultures, eat dead animals and sometimes small pieces of bone, which is important during egg-laying. However, they may mistake trash for bone, leading to health problems. If condors eat trash, it can cause blockages in their digestive system, starvation, or death if they do not receive medical care. Parent birds may accidentally feed microtrash to their young, which research shows is the leading cause of death among wild condor nestlings.
Relationship with humans
The California condor has long been an important figure in the stories and traditions of Native American tribes. Different groups have created unique myths about this bird, giving it various roles in their cultures.
The Wiyot people of California tell a story in which the condor helped recreate humans after a great flood destroyed them. In contrast, the Mono tribe sees the condor as a harmful force. Their legend says the condor captured humans, removed their heads, and used their blood to flood the home of Ground Squirrel. When Ground Squirrel tried to escape, the condor caught him, but Ground Squirrel managed to cut off the condor’s head when it stopped to drink the blood. The Yokuts people believe the condor sometimes ate the moon, creating the pattern of the moon’s changing shape, and that its wings caused solar and lunar eclipses. The Chumash tribe of Southern California say the condor was once a white bird but turned black after flying too close to a fire.
Archaeologists have found condor bones and feather headdresses in Native American burial sites. Cave paintings of condors have also been discovered. Some tribes killed condors during ceremonies to make clothing from their feathers. It was believed that the clothes of a deceased Shaman were cursed, so new clothing had to be made for the person who took over their role.
Some researchers think these rituals, which involved killing animals, may have contributed to the condor’s population decline. Tribes such as the Miwok, Patwin, Luiseño, and Pomo were known to hunt condors, but the exact number of condors they killed is unclear.