California Condors at Navajo Bridge (Marble Canyon, AZ)

December 4, 2022

^{Navajo Bridge}

^{California Condors and the Colorado River: Best view in town}

Mornings, evenings, and nights, biologists with the Peregrine Fund monitor, treat, and protect California Condors near the border of Arizona and Utah. These birds are absolute spectacles with a three meter wingspan. Three meters! They’re the largest flying land bird in North America, whose population plummeted to only 22 individuals in the 1980s. Forty years later, their population has grown to over 500 birds.

The transition from lead to copper bullets in the hunting community is an important and effective remedy for the health of California Condors. Lead has detrimental physiological effects on wildlife and humans alike. California Condors are obligate scavengers, meaning they only eat animals they find already dead. When they ingest the remains of animals hunted with lead bullets, the lead content in their blood can reach toxic levels. Biologists regularly monitor condor populations for lead poisoning and bring affected birds in for treatment, enabling their eventual release into the wild.

Without the tireless work of conservation groups like the Peregrine Fund, California Condor extinction could be a devastating reality. The switch to copper bullets in the hunting community is an instrumental contribution to these conservation efforts.

I’m overcome with admiration for the Peregrine Fund team and their tremendous efforts in avian conservation.

https://www.peregrinefund.org/projects/california-condor