{"id":678654,"date":"2026-06-01T22:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/678654\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T22:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:27:09","slug":"a-yurok-condor-took-a-four-day-tour-of-southern-oregons-main-attractions-last-month-making-her-the-first-california-condor-to-fly-in-beaver-state-skies-in-over-a-century-lost-coast-outpost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/678654\/","title":{"rendered":"A Yurok Condor Took a Four-Day Tour of Southern Oregon’s Main Attractions Last Month, Making Her the First California Condor to Fly in Beaver State Skies in Over a Century | Lost Coast Outpost"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Adventurer. Photo: Yurok Tribe.<\/p>\n

Press release from the Yurok Tribe:<\/p>\n

Northern California Condor Restoration Program (NCCRP) condor B9 recently completed a
\nmonumental journey from Orick in Northern California to an area near Medford, Oregon,
\nbecoming the first condor to fly free in the state since 1904.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have always known that at least one of our condors would eventually travel into Oregon
\nbecause the state is well within their flight range. We are thrilled it finally happened,\u201d said
\nYurok Wildlife Department Director Tiana Williams-Claussen.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very excited to see our condors begin exploration of the greater Northern
\nCalifornia and Southern Oregon region,\u201d said Leonel Arguello, National Park Service
\nsuperintendent for Redwood National & State Parks. \u201cTheir progress reflects the dedication
\nand hard work of everyone involved in their reintroduction and care, and marks an
\nimportant milestone for the condor recovery effort.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

In Oregon, the last wild condor was observed in the city of Drain between Eugene and Roseburg in
\n1904. Before the NCCRP reintroduction effort, the last free-flying condor in Northern California
\nwas documented during the early 1900s in Humboldt County.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a dream for many Oregonians to see a California condor soar over our state again,
\nand B9\u2019s journey has made that dream real,\u201d said Oregon Zoo director Heidi Rahn. \u201cHistoric moments like this show the power of Tribal leadership in wildlife recovery. We\u2019re deeply honored to partner with the Yurok Tribe to help bring this iconic species back to its
\nancestral range and to support a future for condors in the Pacific Northwest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is incredible news that we\u2019ve been waiting to hear since the Yurok Tribe began releasing condors in northern California a few years ago. Condors will travel long distances to find new habitat and we knew they would make it into Oregon eventually,\u201d added Oregon Department of Fish Wildlife Director Debbie Colbert. \u201cWhile this was just a brief visit from B9, we look forward to the day when California condors again call Oregon home.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

Condor B9 (studbook 1268), two years and one month old, was hatched on April 3, 2024, at the
\nWorld Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho and released into the redwood region last fall. On
\nMay 12, 2026, she began the four-day, 380-mile flight from Orick, CA, traveling west east to within 12
\nmiles of Redding, CA before crossing both the northern Trinity Alps and Marble Mountain Wildernesses prior to reaching her northernmost point on this voyage within 8 miles of Medford, OR. On the return trip, she spent one night near Cave Junction before heading down the Smith River corridor, making a detour to Brookings, OR on the coast and arriving back at the facility on
\nMay 16. She flew for a total of 80 miles in Oregon and expanded the NCCRP flock\u2019s range by 25
\nmiles north and 35 miles east.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

Condors can soar up to 250 miles per day. B9 covered nearly 100 miles each day on her foray into
\nOregon.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

\u201cYoung birds, like B9, explore more extensively than adults, which typically remain within a
\nhome range established during their juvenile stage. Most likely, B9\u2019s excursion was an
\nexploratory flight to see what\u2019s around her,\u201d said Chris West, the NCCRP Manager and
\nYurok Wildlife Department Senior Biologist, who has worked with condors for more than
\ntwo decades. \u201cAfter they fledge, wild-born juvenile condors join up with other young
\ncondors and they teach each other their parents\u2019 territories before settling on a home range.
\nBy that time, a young bird will have covered a large geographic area. I imagine B9 will
\nexplore more and take other birds with her.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

This is the NCCRP\u2019s second major milestone in 2026. Earlier this year, condors A0 (Ney-gem\u2019 \u2018Ne-
\nchween-kah) and A1 (Hlow Hoo-let) established the flock\u2019s first nest and deposited an egg in a
\nhollowed-out cavity near the top of a redwood tree. As is often the case with new condor parents,
\nthe egg failed. While the cause is unknown, the failure may have been the result of an infertile egg,
\ninadequate incubation, or a hatching issue. There is a small chance the pair may produce another egg
\nthis year, but it is unlikely. However, condor egg incubation success rates increase significantly from
\nthe first to the second breeding season. It is possible that the NCCRP will have its first chick next
\nyear.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

The California Condor Recovery Program is an international multi-entity effort, led by the
\nU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to recover the endangered California condor by establishing
\nrobust self-sustaining populations of condors within their historical distribution. The
\nNCCRP is a partnership between the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks.
\nTo support the Yurok Tribe\u2019s condor restoration work, please visit
\nthis link<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Adventurer. Photo: Yurok Tribe. Press release from the Yurok Tribe: Northern California…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678655,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-678654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}