Condors A0 and A1, in happier times. Video: Yurok Tribe.<\/p>\n
The
\nfirst egg produced by the free\u2011flying Pacific Northwest condor
\npopulation appears to be unsuccessful based on an analysis of the
\nbirds\u2019 behaviors and flight patterns. However, the data are not
\nconclusive and may remain so for several weeks. Due to the
\ninaccessibility of the nesting area, observation of the parents\u2019
\nbehavior will continue for confirmation.<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nreason biologists with the Northern California Condor Restoration
\nProgram (NCCRP) suspect the nest has failed is because the
\nprospective parents, condors A0 and A1, have spent an extended period
\ntogether far from the nest site, at a time when parental care of a
\npotential hatchling would be necessary for the chick to survive. Many
\nthings may have gone wrong, ranging from an infertile egg to
\ninadequate incubation chilling the egg, to hatching failure. If the
\negg failed to hatch, the pair could attempt to reproduce again this
\nspring, a process biologists refer to as recycling, or more likely,
\nthey will try again next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhile
\nit is unlikely that a chick will fledge from the initial egg, we
\nremain pleased to have taken this first step towards successful
\nreproduction. We continue to hold a sliver of hope that it happens
\nthis year and look forward to future attempts knowing that the time
\nwill yet come when we have our first wild-fledged chick flying free
\nin our homeland,\u201d said Yurok Wildlife Department Director Tiana
\nWilliams-Claussen.<\/p>\n
\nNew
\ncondor parents frequently face challenges sustaining their first egg
\nbecause of limited experience with the complex incubation process.
\nEven if the egg has failed there is reason for optimism, as condor
\nparents are far more likely to produce viable offspring the older and
\nmore experienced they become.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cCompared
\nto their first breeding season, the probability of successful
\nincubation is substantially higher during condors\u2019 second season
\nbecause they learn from their mistakes,\u201d said Chris West, the
\nNorthern California Condor Restoration Program Manager and a Yurok
\nWildlife Department Senior Biologist.<\/p>\n
Some
\ncondors may initiate nesting at five or six years of age, but first
\nattempts at seven are far more common. It is promising that A0 and
\nA1, two seven-year-old condors, made a solid attempt at breeding. As
\nthe oldest birds in the flock, they are leading the way for this most
\nrecent addition to the roster of condor release sites.<\/p>\n
\nProgram
\nstaff first noticed nesting behavior by condors A0 (Ney-gem\u2019
\n\u2018Ne-chween-kah) and A1 (Hlow Hoo-let) in early February, although
\nactual confirmation of an egg was impossible due to the remoteness of
\nthe nesting site. A0 would have deposited the egg within a cavity of
\nan old-growth redwood in the Redwood Creek drainage after months of
\nsearching for the ideal location.<\/p>\n
\nFree
\nflying since 2022, A0 (studbook 973) and A1 (studbook 969) were among
\nthe first condors reintroduced to Northern California. Currently, 23
\ncondors reside in the wild within Yurok ancestral territory. With a
\ngoal of establishing a self-sustaining condor flock, NCCRP plans to
\nrelease at least one group of birds every summer for at least 20
\nyears.<\/p>\n
\nA0
\nor Ney-gem\u2019 \u2018Ne-chween-kah\u2019, which translates to \u201cShe carries
\nour prayers\u201d, was the only female in the first released NCCRP
\ncohort. Having hatched at the Oregon Zoo on March 31st\u00a0of
\n2019, she is the oldest condor in the flock and was released at the
\nNCCRP site in 2022.<\/p>\n
\nA1,
\nnicknamed \u2018Hlow Hoo-let\u2019, which means \u201cAt last I (or we) fly!\u201d,
\nis 10 days younger than A0, and hatched on April 10th\u00a0of
\n2019 at the Peregrine Fund\u2019s World Center for Birds of Prey in
\nBoise, Idaho.<\/p>\n
\nCondors
\nare slow to reproduce, with females laying only one egg at a time,
\nand usually nesting only every other year. Young condors take months
\nto learn to fly and rely on their parents for more than a year. They
\ndo not reach sexual maturity until at least age five.<\/p>\n
\nMost
\ncommonly, condors stay paired with mates for successive years,
\nalthough a new partner will be sought if one dies.<\/p>\n
\nIn
\ngeneral, condors begin breeding between six and eight years of age
\nand can live more than 60 years. The next oldest male and female
\ncondors under NCCRP management are six-year and one-month-old male A2
\n(studbook 1010) Nes-kwe-chokw, and four-year and ten-month-old female
\nA7 (studbook 1109) Hey-we-chek\u2019.<\/p>\n
\nNorthern
\nCalifornia Condor Restoration Program<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nNorthern California Condor Restoration Program is a partnership
\nbetween the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks (NPS).
\nThe program has received funding from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
\nBureau of Indian Affairs, Administration for Native Americans,
\nPacific Gas and Electric Company, Global Conservation Fund, Redwood
\nNational Park Foundation, and many small donations from the public.
\nThe Yurok Tribe initiated the condor reintroduction project in 2008
\nas part of a long-term effort to heal the landscape within Yurok
\nancestral territory, a landscape to which the health and wellbeing of
\nthe Yurok people is inextricably connected. The restoration of
\nCalifornia condor, prey-go-neesh in the Yurok language, is a vital
\npart of this environmental and cultural revitalization effort.
\nAlongside condor recovery, the Tribe is also undertaking several
\nother wildlife conservation projects as well as implementing
\nlarge-scale fish habitat restoration throughout the Klamath River,
\nits tributaries, and the surrounding region.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nThe
\nNCCRP is part of the California Condor Recovery Program, which is an
\ninternational multi-entity effort, led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
\nService, to recover the endangered California condor by establishing
\nrobust self-sustaining populations of condors within the historical
\ndistribution.<\/p>\n