Pinnacles National Park California Condor Reestablishment Program Annual Report 2020
Welch A, Fielding R, Emmons G, Ryan D. 2020. Pinnacles National Park California Condor Reestablishment Program Annual Report 2020. National Park Service
California condors are one of the rarest bird species in the world and biologists have been committed to their recovery for over four decades. The Condor Reestablishment Program at Pinnacles National Park (PNP) has several objectives with the ultimate goal of species recovery in the wild: • monitoring central California condor population trends by documenting foraging, movements, nesting, and reproduction; • detecting mortalities and recovering condor carcasses so cause of death can be determined; • managing threats to condors; • increasing public awareness of threats to condors; and • conducting cooperative research to aid condor recovery. Together with Ventana Wildlife Society (VWS), PNP manages a flock of 93 condors in central California. During 2020, PNP monitored all birds inhabiting the central California area, as well as PNP-managed condors that traveled beyond their typical range. PNP-managed condors and VWS-managed condors make up a single flock, overlap in range, feed together, and are captured at three release sites: one in the park and two in the Big Sur mountains. This report focuses on Pinnacles Condor Program management of birds released from the park and, where appropriate, includes VWS-managed condor data, courtesy of VWS. Items of particular interest from the year are highlighted in Appendix A.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Welch, Alacia; Fielding, Rose; Emmons, Gavin; Ryan, Daniel
- Date of Issue
- 2020
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Keywords
- California condors
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | At-risk Biota | T&E Species and Communities , NPS.gov Subject Site: At-Risk Species , NPS.gov Subject Site: California Condors