Great News from the Baja Canyons - 1st condor egg recovery

Even better news from the Baja canyons...we have a "wild" condor chick! I re-checked the condor nest, eliciting the help of Mike Clark (climber/condor egg specialist) to see if the egg was still viable. As I reached over the rim of the nest, I was attacked by the normally docile female, #117.

She was being very protective for a condor with an egg. Instead of the egg I expected, a 1- to 2-day-old chick was vocalizing in its place. With a head too heavy and weak to hold up, he laid it down for a brief rest. I was able to get these pictures before the parent relaxed and lay back down into brooding position again.

The egg must have been laid around the 24th of February, since the incubation period is typically 57 days long. Many risks still lie ahead for this chick but if all goes well, he/she will take about 5 and a half months before fledging from the nest site. While probable, condors had not previously been documented to nest in Baja. This is a first!

Thanks go out to the many ZSSD departments, US and Mexican organizations and governments that have helped the project get to this point. Special thanks to our crew of Mexican biologists who have maintained the birds in the field day after day, year after year. We still have a long path ahead toward a healthy, wild population in Baja, but having a chick in the nest by young, new parents is a good indication we are on the right track.

Mike Wallace, Ph.D.
Zoological Society San Diego