The California condor is a New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. This condor became extinct in the wild in 1987, but the species has since been reintroduced to northern Arizona and southern Utah, the coastal mountains of central and southern California, and northern Baja California.
Similar species: New World Vultures
By Thibaud Aronson
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Uploaded Oct 25, 2019. Captured Aug 15, 2019 19:03 in High Peaks Trail, Paicines, CA 95043, USA.
comments (5)
I went to Pinnacles NP specifically to look for those guys, as there is a small established population there.
I arrived in the afternoon, and asked the rangers at the reception for tips on where to go looking. They explained the best way to hike up to the pinnacles that give the park its name, and told me to try and get there at sunset.
However, as soon as I stepped out onto the parking lot, I saw a number of vultures flying over the low hill above the campground. I raised my binoculars, and there it was, the massive silhouette dwarfing its smaller cousins with its almost 3 meter wingspan!
Good thing I saw that one, too, because I did the hike to the pinnacles twice and never saw another one! Posted 5 years ago
And in fairness, only with albatrosses have I been truly able to visualize these kinds of massive wingspans, since they come up close! With big raptors, as they are usually circling high up, it's always a bit more abstract.
Edit: Pelicans are also good ones! Though for some reason, because they are also so chunky, their massive wingspans are not so apparent either! Posted 5 years ago, modified 5 years ago
Posted 5 years ago