California Condors Breed in Captivity
California Condors Breed in Captivity
In May, 1924, while on a visit to the National Zoological Park, Washington, D. C., I was interested to learn of repeated attempts on the part of the California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) to breed there. This was news to me and may be to others. The Condors constituted to me the chief attraction in the park. Three fine adult examples there live in a spacious “flying” enclosure.
In 1898, I saw seven California Condors about a carcass in the mountains of northern San Diego County, California; yet careful search has failed to reveal even one Condor in that locality within the past five years. Although I have seen all together quite a number of Condors in the wild, I have never seen Condors that seemed healthier or in better color or feather than those three captive individuals in Washington.
Mr. Ned Hollister, Superintendent of the Park, has kindly furnished me with the following data. All three Condors were received as birds-of-the-year from Mr. W. B. Whitaker of Piru City, California. The first individual was received at the zoo on July 19, 1901; the second arrived September 7, 1903, and the third came on September 21, 1903. Two of the birds are supposed to represent a mated pair, while the sex of the third individual is unknown. The three birds are of equal size. Mr. Hollister says he has not been able to tell the sexes apart. Outside of the mating season it is difficult or impossible to pick out the mated pair. There is no strife; all three birds live together in real harmony. Mr. Hollister has refused to part with the third bird, for fear it might have a bad effect on the remaining pair.
The captive Condors bred for the first time when they were twelve years old. Mr. Hollister believes that this marks the age when Condors normally reach maturity. The birds have “nested” three times, but one or more seasons have elapsed between nesting periods. In each case, the single egg was laid upon the bare wooden floor of a large shelter or roost which was placed well above the ground. In every instance the egg proved to be infertile. In the first two instances the Condors incubated the egg for several weeks. In the third case the freshly laid egg was taken out and artificially incubated, but again the embryo failed to develop. Although now twenty-one and twenty-three years old, these Condors appear to be in the prime of life, and the excellent housing and attention which they receive lead us to hope that they will continue to live for many years to come.
Joseph Dixon
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California, July 15, 1924
