Flying high. These impressive birds live in the highest peaks of the Andes. They nest in rocky crags and soar over open grasslands and lowland desert regions. When not scanning the landscape for a meal, the birds may roost in small groups, often stretching their enormous wings to catch some sun or preening.

Andean condors used to range in large numbers from the highlands of northern South America to the tip of Tierra del Fuego in the south. They tend to stay away from human disturbance, causing their range decrease dramatically. Today, Andean condors are most often seen in Peru, Chile, and Argentina, although a reintroduction program is taking place in Colombia.

The sky's the limit. To find their food, Andean condors use their excellent eyesight and can spot a meal from high up in the air. They also look for clues to their next meal, such as other raptors gathering in one area on the ground or circling in the sky. Condors can glide over large areas while using little energy. These huge birds are too heavy to fly without help. They use warm air currents (thermals) to help them gain altitude and soar through the sky. By gliding from thermal to thermal, a condor may need to flap its wings only once every hour. When a condor stretches out its wings, the wing feathers look like outstretched fingertips. These “fingertips” let the condor make fine adjustments in flight, like wing flaps on an airplane.

A meal to die for. Like all vultures, Andean condors are scavengers and find most of their food after it is already dead. This lifestyle isn’t for everyone, but it does have certain advantages—the food can’t fight back! Like most other vultures, condors have a featherless head. This keeps the head from getting too messy while buried in a carcass. Condors have a high resistance to harmful bacteria, and their curved beak is good for tearing rotting flesh.

But as strong and impressive as an Andean condor’s beak looks, it is not as strong as the beaks of other birds of prey. After a condor eats, it rubs its head and neck back and forth across the ground to get all the “crumbs” off. These birds can consume more than 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) of meat at one time, and may not be able to fly after such a large meal.

At the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the Andean condors get rats, rabbits, beef spleen, trout, and ground meat, depending on the day. Although they are able to eat rancid meat, they prefer fresh food.