2007 NEWS BELOW

2008 NEWS HERE

Family –Cathartidae (an ancient vulture family)

Status — Critically Endangered

California Condors are close to extinction. Condors are a critically endangered species. Habitat loss and diminishing gene pools are primary threats to these gigantic scavengers in Southern California.

I once sat on a hillside for a day as part of a CONDOR WATCH. We were part of a research group trying to assess the size of the population. It was a hot day and some people saw Condors but we did not at our location. We were not surprised because at the time there were less than 20 condors still living in the wild. Once California condors were much more common and had a range from Canada to Baja California  in the western states.

Condors have been a hot topic in the world of conservation. The San Diego Zoo has been instrumental in raising condors to release into the wild with some considerable success. One of these california condors is discussed in this article. TODAY about the egg in Mexico. It does not get much more exciting in the wildlife conservation world than this! (see quotes below)

California Condors may have wingspans of about 7-9 feet.Larger than the average vulture to which it is closely related, condors are sometimes mistaken for small airplanes at a distance. The only other larger birds in North America include the Swans-Trumpeter and Mute, the Whooping Crane and for overall size the American White Pelican.

Condor heads are mostly bald as with other vulture species. The color of the California Condor head may be blackish, red or shiny white, depending on the circumstances and the age of the bird. The bald head of the California Condor exposes it to ultraviolet rays which can have a sterilizing impact to protect them from parasites which they encounter while eating carrion. Their feet are more suited to walking than other vulture species.They actually have an astounding sense of smell.

WOW  FANTASTIC NEWS

FROM PeoplePC.Com Monday, April 2, 2007

SAN DIEGO – A California condor has laid an egg in Mexico for the first time since at least the 1930s, biologists at the Zoological Society of San Diego announced Monday. If the chick hatches and survives, scientists hope it will herald the return of a breeding condor population to Mexico, decades after the iconic giant of the skies was wiped out there.

“This is a momentous occasion,” said Dr. Mike Wallace, a field scientist who observed and measured the egg in its nest. “We’re all excited.”

Wallace and colleagues found the egg March 24 in an abandoned eagle nest on a cliff in the Sierra San Pedro de Martir National Park, located in the arid interior of the Baja California peninsula more than 100 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Wallace climbed to the nest and took photographs and measurements of the egg, shining a bright light through the shell to determine that the egg was 45 to 50 days old. Condor eggs incubate for 57 days, meaning the chick could hatch any day. There was also a chance the egg was dead, but Wallace said he did not smell any sulfur and the parent condors were still tending to it.

“We are all sitting on pins and needles waiting to see where the situation is going,” said Wallace, who works for the zoological society’s center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species. The society also runs the San Diego Zoo and its wild animal park.

A type of vulture, the condor scavenges dead fish and animals – as coastal population of seals and otters declined, so too did the bird. The use of poison to kill California’s grizzly bears in the 1800s also devastated numbers and lead shot remains a potential source of poison. Hunting, egg collecting, and power cables were also blamed for hurting the creature’s numbers.

Only 22 California condors were left by the 1980s, and the last documented sighting in Mexico was in the 1930s, Wallace said.

Thanks to a captive-breeding program, numbers recovered to a worldwide total of about 280. More than 100 of these fly free in the skies above parts of California, Nevada and Utah. Working with the Mexican government, biologists reintroduced captive-bred birds to Mexico in 2002.

Condors don’t reproduce until they are several years old, Wallace said. The 7-year-old female that laid the egg in Mexico, known as Condor 217, was born at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Weighing up to 26 pounds and with a wingspan of almost 10 feet, the California condor is one of the world’s largest birds. Another species of condor, found in the Andes, is also under threat but its numbers are in the thousands, Wallace said.

Several organizations have been working together to boost condor numbers under the Condor Recovery Program, which was founded in 1982 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Among them are several Mexican groups, the Los Angeles Zoo, Peregrine Fund’s World Center for Birds of Prey and Oregon Zoo.— On the Net: Conservation and Research for Endangered Species, http://cres.sandiegozoo.org/

Stay tuned to this page for updates on California Condors.

Bookmark this page.

THE EGG in Mexico hatched April 23, 2007.

It is a ray of hope at a time when three California Condors died in California within one month.

Probably from Lead Poisoning.

The biggest threat to California Condors in 2008 has been the WILDFIRES in the BIG SUR area near Condor habitat.

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There are several different varieties of sub species as well, including the Tokoekoa, the Stewart Island Tokoea, the Northern Fiordland Tokoea, the Southern Fiordland Tokoea, and the North Island brown Kiwi, to name a few.

Kiwis are usually nocturnal, which some scientists believe is due to their inability to fend off predators. They are the only birds with nostrils at the end of their beaks. They use these special beaks to find food like insects, grubs or earthworms in the soft soil. Kiwis nest in hollow logs or under tree roots. Like other ratites, kiwis have no wing muscles, only vestigial wings. The closest relatves of the Kiwi are the Ostrich, Emu, and other members of the Cassowarie Family. These are also flightless birds.
Kiwi Birds of New Zealand
Latin Name Apteryx australis
Status Endangered

See My Kiwi Bird Gifts, Buy your Kiwi bird gifts.

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The SHORT STORY about Ivory Billed Woodpeckers

Once upon a time there were many Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the southern swamps. And then there were nearly none.

And then it seemed there were NONE.

For many years no one actually saw one of these Ivory-billed Woodpeckers and people believed they were extinct- Since 1944.Â

The Last Official “sightings” were in Louisiana in 1944, in Florida in the 1950′s, in Texas during the 1960′s.  Overall, birding specialists believed they had become EXTINCT. In the United States.

Then someone reported seeing one in 1970 and another possible sighting was in 1990, both in Louisiana.

And THEN it Happened In February, 2004 the Ivory-billed Woodpecker was sighted in Arkansas by Gene Sparling while canoeing in the National Wildlife Refuge at Cache River. This observation resulted in MANY people searching AND sighting the nesting areas and birds and even some photographs and video coverage of the event. This is news of national importance to ornithologists and the overall birding community. The call is out to continue gathering information and confirming sightings. The debate continues over whether the birds these people observed were instead Pileated Woodpeckers. (They look a lot a like.)

SO, the question is still hotly debated. Â Claims of sightings and disputes fly fast and furious at gatherings of birders every season. The official status of the IBW is Endangered, not Extinct. But there are still some people who believe it should be considered Extinct and doubt these more recent sightings.

Who would ever imagine that the swamps of eastern Arkansas would be the center of such national attention?

Even more astounding to me was discovering that some of the strongest birders in this fray have their headquarters on a small college campus in Huntsville, Alabama, less than an hour from where I live!

Lots of details about the people and the search are at the official Ivorybill website.

There is a really interesting children’s book written about the ivory-billed woodpecker championing the tale of possible return from extinction. It is a bit of an icon of hope for conservationists and birdwatchers. Perhaps has never really been truly gone.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker  Campephilus principalis Family  PicidaeÂ

Status Extinct OR Critically Endangered

It’s wingspan is about 30 inches, just less than 3 feet. The ivory-billed woodpecker ‘s body is about 20 inches tallÂ

and very lightweight.(  this lightweight trait is true for most birds)

Their bright red heads against their stark black and white bodies are clear identifiers in the right habitat.Â

 The female has a black head. They both have prominent crests.Â

 The most similar bird is the Pileated Woodpecker which is both smaller and darker and more widespread in forested areas.

Habitat:

Ivory-billed Woodpeckers live in selected southern swamps and nest in the cavities of trees.Â

Southern swamps were harvested widely after the Civil War and this had adverse effects on

available habitat for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Apparently to obtain enough food for adults and young they need a significant size area

(about 10 square miles) to find enough larvae and beetles or fruits and seeds.

Even when their population is healthy their numbers are low.Â

Habit/Behavior: Â

Ivory-billed woodpeckers are fascinating and mysterious even with their ephemeral sightings.Â

Not much is known about their behavior because they have been seen so rarely in the past few decades.

Shy and secretive birds of the swamp, the Ivory-billed woodpeckers are few in number and appear to mate for life.

Both male and female stay involved with raising and feeding the young. After about five weeks in the cavity nest

the young birds fledge but remain close to the parent birds who continue to feed them for another month or two

(somewhat like ravens).

Status:   Believe it or not, in these modern days the status of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is still a matter of dispute and discussion. This is the exciting part of the story.  The official designation is Critically ENDANGERED.

Though from 1944 to now sightings were so rare that they have been believed to be extinct. Â

Their population is minimal if it exists at all. It is endemic to southern swamps.

Habitat loss would be their greatest threat, along with a diminishing gene pool. Â

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                                                                                      © bydpb, 2007

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