![]() ![]() Young may take months to perfect flight and landings.This forceful approach is also a common way for an adult to remove a nestling’s bill from its throat at the end of a feeding. Adult condors sometimes temporarily restrain an overenthusiastic nestling by placing a foot on its neck and clamping it to the floor.Condors bathe frequently and this helps avoid buildup of wastes on the legs. As the waste evaporates, it cools off blood circulating in the leg, lowering the whole body temperature. In hot weather, condors (and other vultures) urinate onto a leg. In cold weather, condors raise their neck feathers to keep warm.California Condors once foraged on offshore islands, visiting mammal and seabird colonies to eat carrion, eggs and possibly live prey such as nestlings.When they find a carcass they eat their fill, storing up to 3 pounds of meat in their crop (a part of the esophagus) before they leave. Condors can survive 1–2 weeks without eating.Although the condor weighs about twice as much as an eagle, the superior talons of the eagle command respect. The exception is when a Golden Eagle is present. At carcasses, California Condors dominate other scavengers.By comparison, Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles normally circle in 12–14 seconds, and Red-tailed Hawks circle in about 8–10 seconds. They take about 16 seconds to complete a circle in soaring flight. They average about 30 mph in flight and can get up to over 40 mph. The young depend on their parents for more than 12 months, and take 6-8 years to reach maturity. Female condors lay only one egg per nesting attempt, and they don’t always nest every year. ![]() One reason California Condor recovery has been slow is their extremely slow reproduction rate.Until the 1930s, they occurred in the mountains of Baja California. When Lewis and Clark explored the Pacific Northwest in 1805 they found condors there. At this time, giant mammals roamed the continent, offering condors a reliable food supply. In the late Pleistocene, about 40,000 years ago, California Condors were found throughout North America. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |