Celebrating Hatch Days, Active Nests, and New Nestlings

Last month, our California Condor team celebrated two momentous condor “hatch days.” One of the youngest of the Arizona–Utah flock, Condor 1221 (pictured below), aka “Milagra,” celebrated her second hatch day on May 9. Most of you likely know Milagra’s story by this point, but if you missed it, you can read up on her inspiring story here. Our field team says she is doing great in the wild. She continues to mature as a member of the flock, with recent flights to the Navajo Bridge and into southern Utah after spending much of the winter at the release site.

Now, we move from one of the youngest in the flock to the oldest: Condor 123 (pictured below left and in banner image above) just celebrated his 30th hatch day! He hatched on May 20th, 1995 at the LA Zoo and was released at Vermilion Cliffs in Arizona on May 27, 1997. He’s fathered four offspring, his first being Condor 305, who in 2003 made history in the recovery effort when they became the first condor to successfully fledge in the wild. This accomplishment brought a renewed sense of hope to the recovery program, with Condors 123 and 127 (his mate) paving the way for more wild-fledged condors. 

Speaking of nesting condors, the Utah–Arizona population has been busy! Our field team is monitoring seven active wild nests, with two eggs confirmed. There are likely more nests with an egg, but seeing into the cliffside nests is a challenge and the parents stay hunkered down on the nests, obscuring our team’s view of the egg. Our teams don’t often know there has been an egg until a fluffy nestling appears!

While our field team is just starting to see eggs, our propagation team in Boise, Idaho is knee-deep in nestlings. Compared to the Arizona population, the condors in propagation tend to start their breeding season earlier. As of May 26, there have been 23 condor eggs laid and 13 nestlings hatched. Our propagation team witnessed an exciting historical moment this season: eggs are typically laid January through April, but Condor pair Wishtoyo (#83) and Chuhlna (#51) decided to defy the norm and laid an egg on May 5. This is the latest condor egg laid in the history of the propagation program! So far, all of the nestlings appear to be healthy and are being cared for by condor pairs in our propagation facility. 

We’re eager to share California Condor updates from propagation and the field as their seasons progress!