Condor week about to kick off
By Chris Hagel
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SOLEDAD, California (KSBW) — Pinnacles National Park is celebrating the start of their very own “Condor Week” on social media with recommendations of where to spot the endangered raptor.
According to the park, to optimize your chances of seeing a California Condor relatively close-up they recommend taking the High Peaks Trail. They say this trail offers the best chance at seeing a condor in the park due to their preference for being at high elevations.
To find the High Peaks Trail you can access it from either side of the park. On the East side of Pinnacles it is most easily accessed via the Rim Trail or the Condor Gulch Trail, while on the West side entrance of the park, the Juniper Canyon trail is your best bet.
To get closer to the birds, it is a minimum of 5 miles round trip with a steep elevation gain and is not recommended for beginners. The park recommends starting your hike as early as you can due to high temperatures during the summer. The park also recommends you bring several liters of water and be aware that much of the High Peaks Trail has little to no shade cover.
Condors can be seen at any time during the day, but are most likely to be seen in the late morning before they leave roost sites to forage for food and late afternoon before they roost.
The park reminds people that if you do manage to see a condor up-close, remember to always keep a safe and respectful distance from the birds.
The park decided to celebrate the condor starting Sunday due to a recommendation from someone on their Facebook page. They will be posting social media content about the birds throughout the week. “We’re dedicating the week of August 8th to posts regarding California condors, and will be answering common visitor questions about these beautiful birds.”
California condors are the largest land birds in North America. They are known to have wingspans of 9.5 feet and weights of around 20 pounds. The exact lifespan of a California condor is unknown, but they are estimated to live over 60 years.
Since 1992, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began reintroducing captive-bred condors to the wild, the USFWS, and its partners have grown the population to more than 440 birds.
Currently, there are about 160 California condors (Gymnogyps Californianus) flying free in Central and Southern California, nearly 80 in Arizona and Utah, and more than 30 in Baja, Mexico. By 2008, the Recovery Program reached an important milestone: for the first time since the program began, more California condors were flying free in the wild than in captivity.
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