California Condor at Grand Canyon

AUGUST 2006: Condor 34 soars beneath Pt. Sublime at Grand Canyon National Park North Rim. There are 138 California Condors in the wild, only 58 in Arizona. This bird, hatched in 1996, was released in 1998 from the Hurricane Cliffs release site about 35 miles SE of St. George, UT, about 90 miles from where this photo was taken. The wing noise produced by the condor in the silence of the canyon is remarkable, a whistling/whooshing like that of a man-made glider. This bird has extended the primary feathers of its wing tips, indicating it is seeking thermal lift from warm air rising out of the Grand Canyon depths. Condor 34 has not always been so magnificent. This bird was near death in early 2006 due to lead poisoning. Heroic efforts by by National Park Service, Peregrine Fund, and Phoenix Zoo saved him. Read all about it:
www.phoenixzoo.org/news/press_release_detail.aspx?ARTICLE...

UPDATE JULY 2008: Condor 34 and female Condor 210 successfully produced a wild fledged young condor, #441. According to Peregrine Fund, "this young condor fledged from a very isolated cave in a secluded canyon west of the Kaibab Plateau in the Grand Canyon". Condor 34 adds fathering a new wild condor to its list of surviving the odds.

UPDATE MARCH 2009 (National Park Service): Nearly-13-year-old male #134/tag 34 is missing and presumed dead. His former mate, female #210/tag 10 has paired up with male #122/tag 22 who previously lost his mate, female #119. They seem to be incubating an egg in the same area and perhaps the same cave that 210 & 134 used in 2007, in the vicinity of Tapeats Creek, 40-some miles downstream of Phantom Ranch.