Eleven California condors are cruising the skies over
Grand Canyon all the way to Moab, Utah, after being released this
year in northern Arizona. Biologists with the California Condor
Recovery Project suggest bird-watchers travel Highway 89A north of
the Grand Canyon between Lee’s Ferry and House Rock Valley Road to
see the carrion-eaters. Pull-out parking spaces and a bird-watching
shelter are available to the public. U.S. Fish and Wildlife
biologist Robert Mesta says it’s not unusual for condors to travel
100 miles and return in a day. And Arizona’s condors are getting
stronger and learning to read wind patterns, he says. As they gain
confidence, they will fly farther and sightings will increase.
Mesta says the successful establishment of condors in Arizona – the
only population outside California – is an excellent start in
efforts to get condors off the endangered species list. Due to the
program’s success, four more young birds are scheduled for release
in late November.
For more information, call the
California Condor Recovery Project at 805/644-1766 or 602/789-3500.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department periodically publishes the
California Condor Project Update; write Nongame Branch, 2221 West
Greenway Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85023-4399. Check out the Peregrine Fund
home page at
http://www.peregrinefund.org.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline It’s a big bird.
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