Andean Condor
A species of South American Condors Scientific name : Vultur gryphus Genus : South American Condors
Andean Condor, A species of South American Condors
Botanical name: Vultur gryphus
Genus: South American Condors
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Description
Although the California condor is, from beak to tail, about 7–8 cm (2.8–3.1 in) longer, the Andean condor has a wider wingspan, which ranges from 270–320 cm (8 ft 10 in–10 ft 6 in). It is also typically heavier, reaching a weight of 11–15 kg (24–33 lb) for males and 8–11 kg (18–24 lb) for females. Overall length can range from 100–130 cm (3 ft 3 in–4 ft 3 in). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 75.7–85.2 cm (29.8–33.5 in), the tail is 33–38 cm (13–15 in) and the tarsus is 11.5–12.5 cm (4.5–4.9 in). Measurements are usually taken from specimens reared in captivity. The mean weight is 11.3 kg (25 lb), with the males averaging about a kilogram more at 12.5 kg (28 lb), the females a kilogram less at 10.1 kg (22 lb). Condors possess the heaviest average weight for any living flying bird or animal, ahead of trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) and Dalmatian pelicans (Pelecanus crispus). However, other sources claim a mean species body mass of 10.3 kg (23 lb) for the Andean condor. The Andean condor is the largest living land bird capable of flight if measured in terms of average weight and wingspan, although male bustards of the largest species (far more sexually dimorphic in size) can weigh more. The mean wingspan is around 283 cm (9 ft 3 in) and the wings have the largest surface area of any extant bird. Among living bird species, only the great albatrosses and the two largest species of pelican exceed the Andean condor in average and maximal wingspan. The adult plumage is all black, except for a frill of white feathers at the base of the neck and, especially in the male, large white bands on the wings, which only appear after the bird's first moult. The head and neck, kept meticulously clean, are red to blackish-red, and have few feathers. Their baldness means the skin is more exposed to the sterilizing effects of dehydration and high-altitude UV light. The crown of the head is flattened, and (in the male) is topped by a dark red comb (also called a caruncle); the skin hanging from its neck is called a wattle. When condors are agitated (for example, during courtship), their head and neck flush, a clear signal to animals nearby. Juveniles are grayish-brown, but with a blackish head and neck, and a brown ruff. The middle toe is greatly elongated, and the hind one is only slightly developed, while the talons of all the toes are comparatively straight and blunt. The feet are thus more adapted to walking, and are of little use as weapons or organs of prehension as in birds of prey and Old World vultures. The beak is hooked, and adapted to tear rotting meat. The irises of the male are brown, while those of the female are deep red. They have no eyelashes. Unlike the case with most other birds of prey, the female is smaller. Observation of wing color patterns, and the size and shape of the male’s crest, are the best ways of identifying individual Andean condors. Sighting-resighting methods assess the size and structure of populations. 
Size
1.3 m
Colors
Black
Gray
White
Life Expectancy
50-72 years
Nest Placement
Cliff
Feeding Habits
Andean Condor, a scavenger, primarily consumes carrion including large mammal carcasses and marine mammals. It occasionally hunts small animals and can gorge to immobility, spotting food visually or through other scavenger cues, dominating at carcass sites.
Habitat
Andean Condor typically resides in high mountainous regions, including the highest peaks, up to at least 5,000 meters. Their preferred habitats are open grasslands and alpine areas, away from human activity where carrion is accessible. Rarely seen in forested zones, they are somewhat more frequent above southern beech forests in Patagonia. Andean Condor also descends to lowland desert regions in Peru and Chile to forage along coastlines for marine carrion and frequents open plains in southern Argentina and offshore islands near Cape Horn.
Dite type
Scavenger
People often ask
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
The condor soars with its wings held horizontally and its primary feathers bent upwards at the tips. The lack of a large sternum to anchor its correspondingly large flight muscles physiologically identifies it as primarily being a soarer. It flaps its wings on rising from the ground, but after attaining a moderate elevation it flaps its wings very rarely, relying on thermals to stay aloft. Charles Darwin commented on having watched them for half an hour without once observing a flap of their wings. It prefers to roost on high places from which it can launch without major wing-flapping effort. Andean condors are often seen soaring near rock cliffs, using the heat thermals to aid them in rising in the air. Flight recorders have shown that “75% of the birds' flapping was associated with take-off”, and that it “flaps its wings just 1% of the time during flight”. The proportion of time for flapping is more for short flights. Flapping between two thermal glides is more than flapping between two slope glides. Like other New World vultures, the Andean condor has the unusual habit of urohidrosis: it often empties its cloaca onto its legs and feet. A cooling effect through evaporation has been proposed as a reason for this behavior, but it does not make any sense in the cold Andean habitat of the bird. Because of this habit, their legs are often streaked with a white buildup of uric acid. There is a well-developed social structure within large groups of condors, with competition to determine a 'pecking order' by body language, competitive play behavior, and vocalizations. Generally, mature males tend to be at the top of the pecking order, with post-dispersal immature males tending to be near the bottom.
Distribution Area
The Andean condor is found in South America in the Andes including the Santa Marta Mountains. In the north, its range begins in Venezuela and Colombia, where it is extremely rare, then continues south along the Andes in Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, through Bolivia and western Argentina to the Tierra del Fuego. In the early 19th century, the Andean condor bred from western Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego, along the entire chain of the Andes, but its range has been greatly reduced due to human activity. Its habitat is mainly composed of open grasslands and alpine areas up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in elevation. It prefers relatively open, non-forested areas which allow it to spot carrion from the air, such as the páramo or rocky, mountainous areas in general. It occasionally ranges to lowlands in eastern Bolivia, northern Peru, and southwestern Brazil, descends to lowland desert areas in Chile and Peru, and is found over southern-beech forests in Patagonia. In southern Patagonia, meadows are important for Andean condors as this habitat is likely to have herbivores present. In this region, Andean condor distributions are therefore influenced by the locations of meadows as well as cliffs for nesting and roosting.
Species Status
The Andean condor is considered near threatened by the IUCN and the Peruvian Conservation Organization. It was first placed on the United States Endangered Species list in 1970, a status which is assigned to an animal that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Threats to its population include loss of habitat needed for foraging, secondary poisoning from animals killed by hunters and persecution. It is threatened mainly in the northern area of its range, and is extremely rare in Venezuela and Colombia, where it has undergone considerable declines in recent years. Because it is adapted to very low mortality and has correspondingly low reproductive rates, it is extremely vulnerable to human persecution, most of which stems from the fact that it is perceived as a threat by farmers due to alleged attacks on livestock. Education programs have been implemented by conservationists to dispel this misconception. Reintroduction programs using captive-bred Andean condors, which release birds hatched in North American zoos into the wild to bolster populations, have been introduced in Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. The first captive-bred Andean condors were released into the wild in 1989. When raising condors, human contact is minimal; chicks are fed with glove puppets which resemble adult Andean condors in order to prevent the chicks from imprinting on humans, which would endanger them upon release as they would not be wary of humans. The condors are kept in aviaries for three months prior to release, where they acclimatize to an environment similar to that which they will be released in. Released condors are tracked by satellite in order to observe their movements and to monitor whether they are still alive. In response to the capture of all the wild individuals of the California condor, in 1988 the US Fish and Wildlife Service began a reintroduction experiment involving the release of captive Andean condors into the wild in California. Only females were released to prevent it becoming an invasive species. The experiment was a success, and all the Andean condors were recaptured and re-released in South America before the reintroduction of the California condors took place. In June 2014, local authorities of the Ancasmarca region rescued two Andean condors that were caged and displayed in a local market as an attraction for tourists.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Family
New world vulture Genus
South American Condors Species
Andean Condor 
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