Condor Update 2024: Central Coast population stands at 100

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The Central Coast Flock of the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) has nine chicks added to its count this nesting season and there are two unhatched eggs that biologists remain hopeful for. 

Alacia Welch, Condor Program Manager at Pinnacles National Park said they are having a “great year.” There are four nests in the park and two others in the county. All have been found to have eggs that hatched and the team has accessed some of the nests. Welch added they expect to receive nine juveniles from captive breeding to be released at the Pinnacles National Park and Ventana San Simeon release sites later this year.

2024 saw a first for the Central Coast—a condor nest in San Benito County yielded two eggs. Females typically only produce one egg; this nest was that of a trio made up of one male and two females. 

Biologists found one of the eggs crushed when they entered the nest. It is unclear what caused the egg crushing. “We don’t have cameras in that nest so we did not see what happened,” said Welch of the event. 

Trios are not uncommon for condors. Blood has been taken to find out which female’s chick hatched. 

Biologists at Pinnacles find crushed egg while adult condor watchs. Photo courtesy of Pinnacles National Park.

Flocks sustained some losses

According to the Ventana Wildlife Society (VWS), nine birds died in 2023 and four are missing in the wild and presumed dead. There have been no deaths to date in 2024.

Two natural events have had negative effects on the overall California condor population in the last four years: the Dolan Fire in 2020, which killed 11 members of the Central Coast Flock, and the Avian Flu outbreak in 2022, which killed 18 of the Southwestern Flock. VWS is still rebuilding its Big Sur release site that was destroyed in the Dolan Fire.

Welch said that all condors in captive breeding facilities have been vaccinated against avian flu and according to VWS, 18 of the 100 birds in the Central Coast Flock have been. Since the vaccine requires two doses 21 days apart, only subadults are held for that period. Welch said they are held in a holding pen at the SPCA(CK) in Monterey and being managed by VWS. 

She said adults are given the initial dose but during nesting season are not held. It is hoped they will be caught later for their second dose. Condors are also vaccinated against West Nile Virus.

The total California condor numbers:

Total: 561

Wild global: 344

Captive: 217

Central Coast: 100

Follow this link to view the 2020 California Population Status Report 

Wild California condor flocks:

Central Coast: San Benito and Monterey Counties 

SoCal: Kern and Ventura Counties

Southwest: Arizona and Utah

Yurok Tribe: Humboldt County 

Baja: Baja California

(Central Coast female 1027 continues to spend time in both the central coast and SoCal flock.)

California condor 589 flying at Pinnacles National Park. Photo courtesy of Pinnacles National Park.

The Ventana Wildlife Society lists the following milestones for the California condor, with emphasis on the Central Coast Flock (1602-2023).

• Prehistory – California Condors range along both coasts from British Columbia to Baja California and from New York to Florida.

• 1602 – First recorded condor sighting by a European, Father Antonio de la Ascension, in Monterey Bay.

• 1805 – Lewis and Clark report sighting a condor, calling it “beautiful buzzard of the Columbia.”

• 1939 – National Audubon Society researcher Carl Koford begins landmark field studies. Koford estimates 60-100 condors remain in the wild.

• 1967 – California Condor is included in the first federal list of U.S. endangered species.

• 1975 – California Condor Recovery Team is established and the recovery plan is adopted.

• 1979 – 25-35 California Condors remain in the wild. Cooperative California Condor Conservation Program is formed.

• 1980-1987 – Field investigations and management programs include radio telemetry and captive incubation of wild eggs.

• 1982 – Only 22 California Condors remain in the wild.

• 1983 – First successful hatching for a wild California Condor egg in captivity.

• 1987 – Last wild California Condor taken into captivity. Only 27 condors remain in captive breeding facilities at the Los Angeles Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park.

• 1988 – First successful breeding of captive California Condors at the San Diego Zoo.

• 1992 – Two captive-bred California Condors reintroduced into the wild, accompanied by two Andean Condors.

• 1993 – Third California Condor breeding center established at World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho.

• 1994 – Captive California Condors have laid a total of more than 100 eggs.

• 1996 – California Condor population reaches 103, including 13 in the wild. Releases begin in San Luis Obispo County, California, and near the Grand Canyon, Arizona.

• 1997 – Releases begin in Monterey County by Ventana Wildlife Society.

• 1999 – California Condor population reaches 147, including 50 in the wild. The Big Sur flock is documented for the first time feeding on sea lion carcasses.

• 2000 – AC8 is the first of the wild-born birds re-released into the wild.

• 2001 – The Oregon Zoo joins the Recovery Program as the fourth captive breeding partner.

• 2002 – First chick born in the wild successfully fledges in Ventura County. Condors are released in Baja California.

• 2003 – Condors are released at Pinnacles National Monument, San Benito County, California.

• 2004 – AC9, the last condor taken from the wild in 1987 re-released in southern California.

• 2006 – First nesting attempt for the re-introduced flock in Big Sur. The nest fails and eggshell fragments recovered are found to be thin. Condors in this flock observed feeding on a Gray Whale carcass for the first time in over 200 years.

• 2007 – Eggshell thinning research initiated in Big Sur. Wild-laid eggs are switched out with captive-laid eggs and hatched in captivity to maximize nest success. 

• 2008 – First chick from a wild-laid egg fledges in the wild in Big Sur and survives; two additional chicks from captive-laid eggs fledge and one survives. The number of free-flying condors exceeds the number in captivity for first time in over 20 years. The use of lead bullets is outlawed in California within condor range.

• 2009 – First condor program nest in San Benito County. In Central California, four chicks successfully fledge in the wild and survive (one from a wild-laid egg and three from captive-laid eggs).

• 2010 – In Central California, two chicks fledge in the wild (one from a wild-laid egg and one from a captive-laid egg). Broken egg discovered in Big Sur with thin eggshell fragments.

• 2011 – Ventana Wildlife Society acquires 80 acres of land referred to as the “Condor Sanctuary.” This remote coastal canyon surrounded by the Ventana Wilderness in Big Sur   is where the reintroduction has taken place since 1997. As of March, the global population is 192 wild and 177 captive birds.
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• 2012 – Condors 663, 664, and 665 fledged from nests in the wild in Central California. Death of Condor 318 from lead toxicosis; a .22-caliber lead bullet is recovered from the digestive tract of this bird. The global population reaches 231 birds in the wild and 176 in captivity (as of November).

• 2013 – Assembly Bill 711 is passed requiring the use of non-lead ammunition when taking wildlife throughout California. A difficult year for the Central California population, due to the deaths of several more condors and reproductive failure at all local nests. The Central California population dips to 61 birds, and the global population is 217 birds in the wild and 203 in captivity (as of September).

• 2015 – Ventana Wildlife Society opens new release site at San Simeon to increase condor distribution along the Central Coast. Central Coast population is at 70 birds and the global wild population is approaching 240.

• 2017 – The first nest by two wild-fledged birds. Young breeders at the age of 8 and 7, this pair is an example of successful recruitment of breeding birds, and growing momentum toward a self-sustainable population.

• 2019 – Condor population in Central California reaches 101 birds, and total in wild reaches  302. Safety for All Act implemented requiring face-to-face ammunition purchases.

• 2020 – The Dolan Fire destroys the Big Sur Condor Sanctuary, killing a total of ten free-flying condors plus two chicks, the worst fire-related event in condor history.

• 2021 – Condor population in Central California reaches 94 individuals, still below the number in 2019. Total wild population in all locations reaches 337.

• 2023 – the wild population in Central California slips further to 91 individuals, despite ongoing releases of captive-bred condors to the wild, due to excessive mortality—largely caused by lead poisoning and. 

Photo courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service.

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