Pinnacles National Park California Condor Reestablishment Program Annual Report 2021

Welch, Alacia; Fielding, Rose; Ryan, Daniel

California condors are one of the rarest bird species in the world and biologists have been committed to their recovery for over 50 years. The Condor Reestablishment Program at Pinnacles National Park (PNP or “Pinnacles”) 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 to determine cause of death • mitigating threats to condors • increasing public awareness of threats to condors • conducting cooperative research to aid condor recovery Together with Ventana Wildlife Society (VWS), PNP manages a flock of 91 condors in central California. During 2021, PNP monitored all birds using 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 release sites managed by both organizations. This report focuses on PNP Condor Program management of birds released from the park but also includes some VWS-managed condor data, courtesy of VWS. Items of particular interest from the year are highlighted in Appendix A. Many measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continued in 2021. All field and office activities were modified to reduce transmission of COVID between crew members. Staff wore personal protective equipment (PPE) for all activities when multiple people were in close proximity, including face coverings or KN95 masks in addition to other PPE. With these measures in place, the PNP Condor Program successfully mitigated the risks of transmitting COVID-19 between staff while also balancing the requirements of managing critically endangered California condors.