Reintroduced condors flying farther afield WILDLIFE

A Calornia Condor soars along the Pacific Ocean shoreline in Big Sur, Calif. on Tuesday August 17, 2010. A number and transmitter identifies the bird as one that is part of the California Condor recovery program at the Pinnacles National Monument. less A Calornia Condor soars along the Pacific Ocean shoreline in Big Sur, Calif. on Tuesday August 17, 2010. A number and transmitter identifies the bird as one that is part of the California Condor recovery ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Reintroduced condors flying farther afield 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

Astronomers at the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton did not need a telescope last week to spot five endangered California condors.

The big black vultures were right there carousing on the observatory dome, 20 miles east, as the condor flies, of downtown San Jose - almost close enough for stargazers and other visitors to smell the buzzards' breath.

"They landed on the Lick Observatory and they also landed on a nearby fire tower," said Michael Woodbridge, a California Condor Recovery Program official for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "It's not highly unusual, but it is pretty notable. It's great to see the birds exploring around the northern edge of their historic range."

It is the second time since condors were reintroduced into the wild after nearly going extinct that the enormous carrion-eating birds have been tracked into the Diablo Range. At least one of the birds, a 4-year-old dominant male known by the number 451, also took an excursion to Alameda County, swooped over to Monterey County and has previously been tracked to the Coalinga area, officials said.

"It is an indication of what could happen in the future," said Kelly Sorenson, the executive director of the nonprofit Ventana Wildlife Society, which has been intricately involved in the statewide condor-recovery program. "I do expect condors to fly into the Diablo mountains more and more as the population expands. It is good habitat."

The California condor, which has a wingspan of almost 10 feet, is one of the largest flying birds in the world. The condors, which can live as long as 60 years, were once plentiful throughout the United States.

The species was particularly common in California and along the Pacific Northwest coast, where condors roosted in rock outcroppings and cavities in redwood trees and fed on everything from elk to beached whales. They were revered by American Indians, many of whom held traditional dances in honor of the majestic flying scavengers. Lewis and Clark recorded seeing a condor in the Columbia River Gorge, between Oregon and Washington states.

Condors began to die off in the 19th century after European and American hunters and fur traders arrived. Many of the birds were poisoned with the lead shot that was left in the entrails and carcasses they scavenged.

Despite being listed on the federal endangered species list in 1967, only 22 California condors remained in the world in 1987, prompting conservationists to capture the remaining birds and start a breeding program at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo.

Condors, which do not begin breeding until they are 7 years old, were reintroduced in Central and Southern California, Arizona and Baja California starting in 1991. There are now 395 condors in existence - 195 of them living in the wild, according to recovery program officials.

Birds tagged, tracked

There are about 94 wild birds that generally hang around the Pinnacles National Monument, the Big Sur Coast and the Los Padres National Forest. All of them are tagged and about half have Global Positioning System tracking devices. The rest have VHF transmitters.

Daniel George, the condor program manager for the Pinnacles population, said the five birds tracked to the observatory on the 4,200-foot tall mountain were all juveniles between the ages of 2 and 5. They flew north on June 21 and returned to the Pinnacles and Big Sur the next day, he said.

Scouting expeditions like this are not unusual, he said. Using thermal uplifts, condors can stay aloft for hours and often travel up to 150 miles a day.

"The fact that they went up there is something that we would expect, and we think in the coming years we will see more movements," George said. "The most noteworthy thing is that they frequented an area that was very accessible and people were able to see them."

Southern Sierra explored

Woodbridge said condors have made regular exploratory flights into the southern Sierra Nevada.

"We had one that went all the way to the north side of Sequoia National Park, almost to Fresno," he said. "We had another bird that went almost down to I-15 in the San Gabriel Mountains."

It is a concern when condors get close to people. The biggest threat to the gangly birds is still contamination from lead ammunition, but breeding condors often mistake bits of trash for bone fragments, which they bring back to their nests for their chicks, Sorenson said.

"The chicks ingest that trash. We've had chicks die because of that," he said, illustrating one reason why he'd rather not see the birds landing on observatories and other structures frequented by humans.

Still, condor specialists agree, having so many birds traveling so far away from their normal roosting grounds is a good sign.

"Three of these five birds were captive reared birds," George said. "Seeing them go on these long flights shows that their instincts are still intact. That was somewhat of a question mark in the early days of the program."