Andean condor
Nombre en español: Cóndor Andino
Nombre en ingles: Andean Condor
Nombre cientifico: Vultur gryphus
Familia:Cathartidae
Ave emblemática: Colombia
The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is a South American bird in the New World vulture
family Cathartidae and is the only member of the genus Vultur. Found in the Andes
mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the
largest flying bird in the world by combined measurement of weight and wingspan. It has a
maximum wingspan of 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) exceeded only by the wingspans of four seabirds
and water birds—the roughly 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) maximum of the wandering albatross, southern
royal albatross, great white pelican andDalmatian pelican.
It is a large black vulture with a ruff of white feathers surrounding the base of the neck and,
especially in the male, large white patches on the wings. The head and neck are nearly
featherless, and are a dull red color, which may flush and therefore change color in response
to the bird’s emotional state. In the male, there is a wattle on the neck and a large, dark red
comb or caruncle on the crown of the head. Unlike most birds of prey, the male is larger than
the female.
Foto: Mauricio Ossa
The condor is primarily a scavenger, feeding on carrion. It prefers large carcasses, such as
those of deer or cattle. It reaches sexual maturity at five or six years of age and nests at
elevations of up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft), generally on inaccessible rock ledges. One or two
eggs are usually laid. It is one of the world’s longest-living birds, with a lifespan of over 70
years in some cases.
The Andean condor is a national symbol of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and
Peru and plays an important role in the folklore and mythology of the Andean regions. The
Andean condor is considered near threatened by the IUCN. It is threatened by habitat loss
[1]
and by secondary poisoning from carcasses killed by hunters. Captive breeding programs
have been instituted in several countries.
TAXONOMY AND SYSTEMATICS
The Andean condor was described by Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth
edition of his Systema Naturae and retains its original binomial name of Vultur
gryphus. The Andean condor is sometimes called the Argentinean condor, Bolivian condor,
Chilean condor, Colombian condor, Ecuadorian condor, or Peruvian condor after one of the
nations to which it is native. The generic term Vultur is directly taken from the
Latin vultur or voltur, which means «vulture». Its specific epithet is derived from a variant of
the Greek word γρυπός (grupós, «hook-nosed»). The word condor itself is derived from the
Quechua kuntur.
The exact taxonomic placement of the Andean condor and the remaining six species of New
World vultures remains unclear. Though both are similar in appearance and have similar
ecological roles, the New World and Old World vultures evolved from different ancestors in
different parts of the world and are not closely related. Just how different the two families are
is currently under debate, with some earlier authorities suggesting that the New World vultures
are more closely related to storks. More recent authorities maintain their overall position in the
order Falconiformes along with the Old World vultures or place them in their own order,
Cathartiformes. The South American Classification Committee has removed the New World
vultures from Ciconiiformes and instead described them as incertae sedis, but notes that a
move to Falconiformes or Cathartiformes is possible.
The Andean condor is the only accepted living species of its genus, Vultur. Unlike the
California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), which is known from extensive fossil remains
and some additional ones of congeners, the fossil record of the Andean condor recovered to
date is scant. Presumed Plio-Pleistocene species of South American condors were later
recognized to be not different from the present species, although one known only from a few
rather small bones found in a Pliocene deposit of Tarija Department, Bolivia, may have been a
smaller palaeosubspecies, V. gryphus patruus.
DESCRIPTION
Although it is on average about seven to eight cm shorter from beak to tail than the California
condor, the Andean condor is larger in wingspan, which ranges from 270 to 320 cm (8 ft 10 in
to 10 ft 6 in). It is also typically heavier, reaching a weight of 11 to 15 kg (24 to 33 lb) for males
and 8 to 11 kg (18 to 24 lb) for females. Overall length can range from 100 to 130 cm (3 ft 3 in
to 4 ft 3 in). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 75.7–85.2 cm (29.8–33.5 in),
the tail is 33–38 cm (13–15 in) and the tarsus is 11.5–12.5 cm (4.5–4.9 in). Measurements are
usually taken from specimens reared in captivity. The mean weight is 11.3 kg (25 lb), with the
males averaging about a kilogram more at 12.5 kg (28 lb), the females a kilogram less at
10.1 kg (22 lb). According to a recently published manual of avian body masses, the species
possesses the heaviest average weight for any living flying bird or animal, ahead of
competitors such as trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) and Dalmatian pelicans
(Pelecanus crispus). However, another resources claims a mean species body mass of
10.3 kg (23 lb) for the Andean condor. The Andean condor is the largest living land bird
capable of flight if measured in terms of average weight and wingspan, although male
bustards of the largest species (far more sexually dimorphic in size) can weigh more at
maximum. The mean wingspan is around 283 cm (9 ft 3 in) and the wings have the largest
surface area (measured in square centimeters) of any extant bird. Among living bird species,
[20]
only the great albatrosses and the two largest species of pelican exceed the Andean condor in
average and maximal wingspanFoto: Mauricio Ossa
The adult plumage is a uniform black, with the exception of a frill of white feathers nearly
surrounding the base of the neck and, especially in the male, large patches or bands of white
on the wings which do not appear until the completion of the bird’s first moulting. The head
[22]
and neck are red to blackish-red and have few feathers. The head and neck are meticulously
kept clean by the bird, and their baldness is an adaptation for hygiene, allowing the skin to be
exposed to the sterilizing effects of dehydration and ultraviolet light at high altitudes. The
crown of the head is flattened. In the male, the head is crowned with a dark red caruncle or
comb, while the skin of his neck lies in folds, forming a wattle.The skin of the head and neck is
capable of flushing noticeably in response to emotional state, which serves to communicate
between individuals. Juveniles have a grayish-brown general coloration, blackish head and
neck skin, and a brown ruff.
The middle toe is greatly elongated, and the hind one is only slightly developed, while the
talons of all the toes are comparatively straight and blunt. The feet are thus more adapted to
walking, and are of little use as weapons or organs of prehension as in birds of prey and Old
World vultures. The beak is hooked, and adapted to tear rotting meat.The irises of the male
are brown, while those of the female are deep red. The eyelids lack eyelashes. Contrary to the
usual rule for sexual dimorphism among birds of prey, the female is smaller than the male.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
The Andean condor is found in South America in the Andes, including the Santa Marta
Mountains. In the north, its range begins in Venezuela and Colombia, where it is extremely
rare, then continues south along the Andes in Ecuador,Peru, and Chile, through Bolivia and
western Argentina to the Tierra del Fuego. In the early 19th century, the Andean condor bred
from western Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego, along the entire chain of the Andes, but its range
has been greatly reduced due to human activity. Its habitat is mainly composed of open
grasslands and alpine areas up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in elevation. It prefers relatively open,
non-forested areas which allow it to spot carrion from the air, such as the páramo or rocky,
mountainous areas in general. It occasionally ranges to lowlands in eastern Bolivia and
southwestern Brazil, descends to lowland desert areas in Chile and Peru, and is found over
southern-beech forests in Patagonia.
ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR
The condor soars with its wings held horizontally and its primary feathers bent upwards at the
tips. The lack of a large sternum to anchor its correspondingly large flight muscles
physiologically identifies it as primarily being a soarer. It flaps its wings on rising from the
ground, but after attaining a moderate elevation it flaps its wings very rarely, relying on
thermals to stay aloft. Charles Darwin commented on having watched them for half an hour
without once observing a flap of their wings. It prefers to roost on high places from which it can
launch without major wing-flapping effort. Andean condors are often seen soaring near rock
cliffs, using the heat thermals to aid them in rising in the air.
Like other New World vultures, the Andean condor has the unusual habit of urohidrosis: it
often empties its cloaca onto its legs and feet. A cooling effect through evaporation has been
proposed as a reason for this behaviour, but it makes no sense in the cold Andean habitat of
the bird. Because of this habit, their legs are often streaked with a white buildup of uric acid.
There is a well-developed social structure within large groups of condors, with competition to
determine a ‘pecking order’ by body language, competitive play behavior, and
vocalizations. Generally, mature males tend to be at the top of the pecking order, with post-
dispersal immature males tending to be near the bottom.
DIET
The Andean condor is a scavenger, feeding mainly on carrion. Wild condors inhabit large
territories, often traveling more than 200 km (120 mi) a day in search of carrion. In inland
areas, they prefer large carcasses. Naturally, they feed on the largest carcasses available,
which can include llamas (Lama glama), alpacas (Vicugna pacos), rheas (Rhea ssp.),
guanacos (Lama guanicoe), deer and armadillos. However, most inland condors now live
largely off of domestic animals, which are now more widespread in South America, such as
cattle (Bos primigenius taurus), horses (Equus ferus caballus), donkeys (Equus
africanus asinus), mules, sheep (Ovis aries), pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus), goats
(Capra aegagrus hircus) and dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). They also feed on the
carcasses of introduced game species such as wild boars (Sus scrofa), rabbits
(Oryctolagus cuniculus), foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and red deer (Cervus elaphus). For
condors who live around the coast, the diet consists mainly of beached carcasses of marine
mammals, largely cetaceans. They will also raid the nests of smaller birds to feed on the
eggs. Andean condors have been observed to do some hunting of small, live animals, such as
rodents, birds andrabbits, which (given their lack of powerful, grasping feet or developed
hunting technique) they usually kill by jabbing repeatedly with their bill. Coastal areas provide
a constant food supply, and in particularly plentiful areas, some Andean condors limit their
foraging area to several kilometers of beach-front land. They locate carrion by spotting it or by
following other scavengers, such as corvids or other vultures. It may follow New World
[41]
vultures of the genus Cathartes—the turkey vulture (C. aura), the lesser yellow-headed
vulture (C. burrovianus), and the greater yellow-headed vulture (C. melambrotus)—to
carcasses. TheCathartes vultures forage by smell, detecting the scent of ethyl mercaptan, a
gas produced by the beginnings of decay in dead animals. These smaller vultures cannot rip
through the tougher hides of these larger animals with the efficiency of the larger condor, and
their interactions are often an example of mutual dependence between species. Black vultures
(Coragyps atratus), king vultures (Sarcoramphus papa) and even mammalian scavengers
may sometimes trackCathartes vultures for carcasses but the condor is invariably dominant
among the scavengers in its range. Andean condors are intermittent eaters in the wild, often
going for a few days without eating, then gorging themselves on several pounds at once,
sometimes to the point of being unable to lift off the ground. Because its feet and talons are
not adapted to grasping, it must feed while on the ground. Like other carrion-feeders, it plays
[24]
an important role in itsecosystem by disposing of carrion which would otherwise be a breeding
ground for disease.
REPRODUCTION
Sexual maturity and breeding behavior do not appear in the Andean condor until the bird is
five or six years of age. It may live to 50 years or more, and it mates for life.During courtship
displays, the skin of the male’s neck flushes, changing from dull red to bright yellow, and
inflates. He approaches the female with neck outstretched, revealing the inflated neck and the
chest patch, while hissing, then extends his wings and stands erect while clicking his
tongue. Other courtship rituals include hissing and clucking while hopping with wings partially
spread, and dancing. The Andean condor prefers to roost and breed at elevations of 3,000 to
5,000 m (9,800 to 16,400 ft). Its nest, which consists of a few sticks placed around the eggs, is
created on inaccessible ledges of rock. However, in coastal areas of Peru, where there are
few cliffs, some nests are simply partially shaded crannies scraped out against boulders on
slopes. It deposits one or two bluish-white eggs, weighing about 280 g (9.9 oz) and ranging
from 75 to 100 mm (3.0 to 3.9 in) in length, during the months of February and March every
second year. The egg hatches after 54 to 58 days of incubation by both parents. If the chick or
egg is lost or removed, another egg is laid to take its place. Researchers and breeders take
advantage of this behavior to double the reproductive rate by taking the first egg away for
hand-rearing, causing the parents to lay a second egg, which they are generally allowed to
raise.
The young are covered with a grayish down until they are almost as large as their parents.
They are able to fly after six months, but continue to roost and hunt with their parents until age
two, when they are displaced by a new clutch.Healthy adults have no natural predators, but
large birds of prey and mammalian predators, like foxes, may take eggs or hatchlings.
Predation is relatively uncommon, since the vigilant parents often aggressively displace birds
of prey who come near and the rocky, precipitous location of most nests are difficult for
mammals to access.
LONGEVITY
Being a slowly-maturing bird with no known natural predators in adulthood, an Andean condor
is quite a long-lived bird. Longevity and mortality rates are not known to have been extensively
studied in the wild. Some estimations of lifespans of wild birds has exceeded 50 years. In
1983, the Guinness Book of World Records considered the longest-lived bird of any species
with a confirmed lifespan was an Andean condor that died after surviving 72 years in captivity,
having been captured from the wild as a juvenile of undetermined age. Several species of
parrot have been reported to live for perhaps over 100 years, but these (at least in 1983) were
not considered authenticated. Another early captive-held specimen of condor reportedly lived
for 71 years. However, these lifespans have been exceeded by a male, nicknamed «Thaao»,
that was kept at Beardsley Zoo in Connecticut. Thaao was born in captivity in 1930 and died
on January 26, 2010, making him 79 years of age. This would be the greatest verified age
ever known for a bird.[20]
RELATIONSHIP WITH HUMANS
CONSERVATION STATUS
The Andean condor is considered near threatened by the IUCN. It was first placed on the
United States Endangered Species list in 1970, a status which is assigned to an animal that is
in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Threats to its
population include loss of habitat needed for foraging, secondary poisoning from animals killed
by hunters and persecution. It is threatened mainly in the northern area of its range, and is
extremely rare in Venezuela and Colombia, where it has undergone considerable declines in
recent years.Because it is adapted to very low mortality and has correspondingly low
reproductive rates, it is extremely vulnerable to human persecution, most of which stems from
the fact that it is perceived as a threat by farmers due to alleged attacks on
livestock. Education programs have been implemented by conservationists to dispel this
misconception. Reintroduction programs using captive-bred Andean condors, which release
birds hatched in North American zoos into the wild to bolster populations, have been
introduced in Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. The first captive-bred Andean condors
were released into the wild in 1989. When raising condors, human contact is minimal; chicks
are fed with glove puppets which resemble adult Andean condors in order to prevent the
chicks from imprinting on humans, which would endanger them upon release as they would
not be wary of humans. The condors are kept in aviaries for three months prior to release,
where they acclimatize to an environment similar to that which they will be released
in. Released condors are tracked by satellite in order to observe their movements and to
monitor whether they are still alive.
In response to the capture of all the wild individuals of the California condor, in 1988 the US
Fish and Wildlife Service began a reintroduction experiment involving the release of captive
Andean condors into the wild in California. Only females were released to prevent it becoming
an invasive species. The experiment was a success, and all the Andean condors were
recaptured and re-released in South America before the reintroduction of the California
condors took place.
ROLE IN CULTURE
Chancay textile with flying condors, 1200-1400 AD
The Andean condor is a national symbol of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
and Venezuelan Andesstates. It is the national bird of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. It
plays an important role in the folklore andmythology of the South American Andean
regions, and has been represented in Andean art from c. 2500 BCE onward, and they are a
part of indigenous Andean religions. In Andean mythology, the Andean condor was associated
with the sun deity, and was believed to be the ruler of the upper world. The Andean condor is
considered a symbol of power and health by many Andean cultures, and it was believed that
the bones and organs of the Andean condor possessed medicinal powers, sometimes leading
to the hunting and killing of condors to obtain its bones and organs. In some versions of
Peruvian bullfighting, a condor is tied to the back of a bull, where it pecks at the animal as
bullfighters fight it. The condor generally survives and is set free.
In Peru, they are occasionally shot, but more often revered and used for ceremonial purposes.
The Yawar Fiesta is a celebration, the pinnacle of which is the tying of an Andean condor to
the back of a bull, allowing the condor to kill the bull with its talons before being released. This
ceremony is a symbolic representation of the power of the Andean peoples (the condor) over
the Spanish (the bull). There is also a ceremony known as the arranque del condor in which
a live Andean condor is suspended from a frame and is punched to death by horsemen as
they ride by.
The Andean condor is a popular figure on stamps in many countries, appearing on one for
Ecuador in 1958, Argentina in 1960, Peru in 1973, Bolivia in 1985,Colombia in 1992, Chile in
2001, and Venezuela in 2004. It has also appeared on the coins and banknotes of Colombia
and Chile. The condor is featured in several coats of arms of Andean countries as a symbol of
Andes mountains.
The Andean condor is depicted on the logo of Avianca and Aerolineas Argentinas, which are
two of the largest airlines in South America.
First Coat of arms ofPeru.
Coat of arms of Bolivia
Coat of arms of Chile
Coat of arms ofColombia
Coat of arms of Ecuador
Former coat of arms ofVenezuela
Coat of arms of UNAMdepicting a condor andgolden eagle
Hunting for condor. Chile, 19th century.
Gauchos lassoing a condor
(illustration 1895)
Stamp of Chile, 60 centavos, 1935
