Condors on the rebound??

http://www.ktvu.com/news/22787027/detail.html

Condor Couple Lays Historic Egg At Pinnacles Park

Posted: 10:22 am PST March 9,2010
Updated: 2:27 pm PST March 9,2010

PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT, Calif. -- For the first time in more than 100 years, a pair of California condors have nested in the Pinnacles National Monument in California's Central Coast, excited park officials announced Tuesday.

Park Superintendent Eric Brunnemann said the female condor had been released in the park about a year and a half ago while the male was released in nearby Big Sur by the Ventana Wildlife Society.

The condors have been tagged with visible numbers and tracked using radio telemetry and global positioning technology.

The majestic birds were observed performing courtship behaviors for nearly a month before an egg was confirmed in the nest on Friday, the park service said.

Park officials quickly closed the areas directly around the nest to the public for the duration of the nesting period. However, the park service said, public viewing was still possible, but it will take a strenuous hike of approximately two miles from the closest East or West Side parking areas.

Biologists will be closely monitoring the nest to determine if the new parents succeed in incubating the egg and rearing a young bird.

Park officials said that condor eggs take an average of 57 days to hatch. Nestlings remain flightless for an additional 5½ to 6 months. It would take its first flight in early October.

Pinnacles National Monument was chosen as a California condor release site due to historical documentation of condors in the area, good cliff nesting opportunities and large expanses of intact habitat in the region, park officials said.

There have been six groups of condors released at the park, bringing the current total to 26 free-flying condors. 2009 marked the first year that a Pinnacles released condor nested. Condor 313 paired with Condor 303, who laid an egg in a rocky outcrop at the RS Bar Guest Ranch in southern San Benito County.

Condor 303 died before her nestling took his first flight, but the juvenile survived and continues to fly.

The reestablishment of California condors to Pinnacles is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Ventana Wildlife Society, the Institute for Wildlife Studies. the Pinnacles Partnership and community volunteers.

The San Diego Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, and the Oregon Zoo breed condors destined for rlease in California, Arizona, and Baja, Mexico. The Pinnacles condor release site is an important link in the overall condor recovery effort.