Condors

The largest and rarest birds in North America.

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Condors Details

The California condor is the largest bird in North America and one of the rarest birds in the world. Just 70 mating pairs of these giant birds nest in Arizona and Utah, but fortunately for Grand Canyon visitors, several live in nesting caves very close to Grand Canyon Village. The condors have lived in the canyon since the Pleistocene era, but their population was drastically reduced around the same point in history when the mastadons, saber-tooth tigers, and other large mammals these carrion birds fed on went extinct. Contact with humans over the past two centuries reduced their numbers further. By 1982, only 22 California condors remained. A successful captive-breeding program helped condor numbers rebound to more than 150, and in the mid-1990s six young condors were released into the wild in Arizona. The current condor population is more than 320, and there are five active condor nests in the Grand Canyon and the Vermilion Cliffs. You may see a condor perched on the rim or, more commonly, riding the thermal updrafts over the canyon on their nine-foot wingspan. For the best chance of seeing a condor, look into the canyon below Bright Angel Lodge late in the afternoon.

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