Reproductive and Parental Behavior of Reintroduced
California Condors

As the first free-flying California condors Gymnogyps californianus reintroduced to California and Arizona reach reproductive age, there is a growing need to gather behavioral data on new breeding pairs as they form in the wild. A more complete understanding of the development of adult reproductive behavior patterns is critical to the successful management of wild populations. Conservation Research Fellow Dr. Allan Mee of the San Diego Zoo's CRES is working closely with the Applied Animal Ecology and Behavioral Biology divisions of CRES and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service condor field biologists at each of the release sites to collect quantitative behavioral data that can be analyzed and effectively applied to management decisions. In particular, Dr. Mee is studying how social rank affects display rates and breeding success, and how male and female condors partition the time-consuming duties of egg incubation and chick care.

Unfortunately, the first wild chicks to hatch in California in 2002 and 2003 perished as a result of ingesting bits of glass, plastic, and metal, apparently fed to them by their parents. Condors have a natural tendency to seek out small, shiny objects in the environment, possibly as an adaptation to securing sufficient calcium to feed their young. Thus it appears that restoration of successful condor breeding populations faces a new, previously undocumented threat. One of Dr. Mee’s goals for the coming years is to better understand this problem so that creative solutions can be explored. On a promising note, the first condor chick to fledge successfully in the wild since the early 1980s did so in Grand Canyon National Park in 2003, and continues to flourish in its natural habitat. While this event gives tremendous hope for the future, the survival and recruitment of wild-bred young is likely to remain one of the key future challenges in re-establishing viable condor breeding populations.

More

California Condor Recovery Program
Milestones in California Condor Conservation
Reintroduction of the California Condor to Baja California
California Condor Mortality Challenges
Social Development and Reintroduction of California Condors