Californian Vulture

Plate 426
Featured in this Plate
California Condor
Gymnogyps californianus
CRIUCN Status
Guide
A holdover from prehistoric times, the great condor is one of our largest and most magnificent birds -- and one of the rarest. Soaring over wilderness crags, feeding on carcasses of large dead animals, reproducing very slowly, it was not well suited to survival in modern-day southern California. Headed toward extinction in the 1980s, the last birds were brought in from the wild in 1987, to be bred in captivity for eventual release into the wild again. The captive breeding program turned out to be surprisingly successful, and flocks of released condors are surviving in several areas of California and in the region of the Grand Canyon.
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Columbian Humming Bird
Plate 425
White-legged Oyster-catcher, or Slender-billed Oyster-catcher
Plate 427