Existing comment:
These are California Condors which the park is trying to reintroduce into the area. They used to inhabit this world but they were pushed out by changing environmental conditions and continued human pressure; by 1924 they were gone. In 1996, a group of condors was reintroduced to the park in an effort to re-establish a population in Arizona. Additional ones have been released here each year. Many of them frequent the canyon during the summer. The park service is waiting to see if any would successfully nest and breed in the wild, something that hasn't happened since 1984 (!). They start breeding at six or seven years, hatch a single egg, and are rarely unsuccessful in raising a chick until their second or third attempt. They are ugly birds with massive wing spans (9 to 9-1/2 feet). Each weighs about twice what a bald eagle does. And each of the birds is numbered for tracking purposes. You can see the numbers "74" on this bird's wings. |