Condor Magnificence!

You've seen our young Dorothy, and the beautiful Laurel.  Now be prepared to be dazzled by a magnificent specimen of masculine Condor beauty!

Meet Gryph, Laurel's mate!  How could any girl resist that gorgeous caruncle or that endearing wattle?  

In the male, there is a wattle on the neck, and a large, dark red comb or caruncle on the crown of the head.  The males keep the comb all their life, which makes it easy to tell the sex of an Andean condor chick as soon as it hatches.  The large patches or bands of white on the wings do not appear until the completion of the bird's first moulting.

Unlike our Turkey Vultures and other vultures of the genus Cathartes, who find prey by smell, the Andean condor locates carrion by spotting it, or by following other scavengers such as corvids or other vultures to the carcass.  

INTERESTING CONDOR FACT:  In response to the capture of all wild individuals of the closely related California Condor, in 1988 the U.S. 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 eliminate the possibility of accidentally introducing a South American species into the United States.  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.