Andean Condor back in Flying Displays

Andean Condors are the largest bird of prey in the world.  They have a wingspan approaching eleven feet from tip to tip and weight ranges from twenty to thirty pounds for fully-grown adults.  In the raptor world the females are larger, more dominant birds and generally males get a really hard time (just as in the human world!).  But in the Condor family it’s the opposite way around, where the males are larger (there always seems to be something that throws a spanner in the works).

Male Andean Condor in flight in Peru (Mirador Cruz del Condor) Photo by Simon Kroner

As youngsters Andean Condors are a light brown colour all over but as they reach maturity they develop a stunning jet-black plumage with white bands stretching right across the wings.  They become mature at about six to seven years of age, normally only laying one egg every other year.  Incubation is 54-58 days, with the chick fledging at about six months of age.  That I think you will agree is an incredible growth rate - food bills must be huge in Condor households!

Normally it is very hard to determine the sex of a bird of prey.  Often you can only go by the size of the bird but even then problems arise, for instance we have a Saker Falcon at the Trust that was a rescue bird and we have no idea of its background.  Looking at its size you would say that it is either a large male or a small female, but we may never find out; unless we get the best indication of all – an egg.  That is one sure sign that you’ve got a female.  Now, in the case of Andean Condors it’s really easy in that the males develop a flap of skin like a fin on their forehead whereas the females keep the ‘smooth’ look. 

Condors will feed on mainly carrion, like most vultures, but because of their pure size and power, they have been known to catch newborn mammals.  Like the majority of vultures, they haven’t got the best table manners in the world and often get smothered in the blood and gore of a dead sheep, so nature has given them a bald head which makes cleaning very easy.  They also have a beautiful white ruff of feathering around the base of their neck that acts like a sponge, soaking up blood that might otherwise run over their flight feathers, hampering their flight.

Gary on the hill with Mrs Simpson

Size-wise they are very impressive but as most people will agree, they are no oil painting compared to the majority of raptors, especially owls.  Which I think is one of the reasons they are not particularly popular.  At the Trust however we love vultures and sometimes have a hard job trying to convert other people to loving them too.  They get such a bad press.  But often we find that when we fly them in our demonstrations people seem to warm to them, mainly because they are so comical when working.

Now I have told you a little bit about Condors in general, I will turn your attentions to one of the newest members of our flying team; a female Condor called Mrs Simpson. 

Mrs Simpson actually arrived at the park about ten years ago, from a European collection.  The initial purpose of her being here was to be part of a captive breeding programme with three other Condors.  We had two males, called George and Edward, who were brothers, and another female called Mildred.  Before they became mature and ready to breed, the two brothers were flown in demonstrations, which apparently kept the falconers in those days on their toes, as the brothers had slight attitude problems to say the least, often chasing the falconers across the flying arena.  When they became mature the four birds were put into a communal aviary where they would hopefully pair off.  Luckily for us Mrs Simpson found George the most attractive, in keeping with the intended royalty theme.  I have to say that Edward was rather stuck with Mildred as opposed to actually wanting her.  They were paired off in separate aviaries and Mrs S and George got on like a house on fire, but unfortunately Mildred is a disabled bird and Edward gave her a really hard time. 

The decision was made that Edward and Mildred were never going to get on so Edward went to a collection in Poland to pair up with a young female, which I think secretly we were all glad about, as he was a nasty piece of work!  Mildred was to have a shot at being a demo bird but being slightly disabled, she mainly just ran everywhere and when she ever did take off she would proceed to sit in a tree for most of the day.

Mrs Simpson flying in the meadow Photo by Richard Doling

As you can clearly gather, flying condors in demonstration can be really difficult, as you can never be sure whether you will be waiting under a tree for a few hours or getting attacked by something with a bolt cropper for a beak!  Anyway, Mrs Simpson and George spent a long time together, showing real signs of breeding (apparently as a male Condor the more warts and wrinkles you have on your head, the more attractive you are to females).  All was going well then unfortunately George acquired an illness nearly two years ago.  He went downhill rapidly and very sadly passed away as a result.  Not only a great loss for Mrs Simpson, but also for everyone at the Trust, as he was such a popular and respected bird. 

The next decision was to give Mrs Simpson a go at demos.  She began work earlier on in the year.  We first of all started as we would any bird, by slowly bringing her weight down to try and establish some form of control.  Initially getting her to shuttle backwards and forwards from falconer to falconer inside her aviary meant that we could form a signal to tell her that if she came to us she would get a reward.  Seeing someone kneel became her signal and on that basis we could then start to venture out in the open, just doing small distances in and out of the aviary to try to build up her confidence gradually.  Once out in the lower flying arena, we worked her every day by flying her in a straight line for rewards.  By the time the six week holidays came around, she was quite comfortably flying back and forth, without any real worry about big crowds or different things popping up into the arena.  In fact you could almost call her bomb proof.  She wasn’t that accomplished, but purely because of her sheer size and power, the crowds absolutely loved her. 

Mrs Simpson flying in the meadow Photo by Richard Doling

As far as her temperament goes, Mrs Simpson is an absolute joy to work with, which is a real bonus as working with a bird with a bolt cropper for a beak, at just the wrong height if you are a male falconer, can be a little disconcerting to say the least.  Having said that, she does take a particular fancy to the commentator every now and again, which is somewhat amusing to watch.  As the summer went on she was getting fitter and more confident to the point where she was flying up to the hill that looks over Reg’s wild flower meadow, with great ease.  The next stage at that point was to get her to fly off into the meadow.  This is something that we falconers were all itching to get on with, apart from Ashley our CEO, who feared that a Condor who didn’t know how to turn corners would loose the plot and go careering towards the audience on busy summer days.  This meant that reluctantly we had to hold off until the six weeks were over, at which point we could start to experiment a bit more as there would be fewer people to hit in the audience!

For the past month we have been working with Mrs Simpson in the Valley of the Eagles demonstration and she has amazed everyone who has witnessed her.  She is now at the stage where she is flying off the hill of her own accord and pushing out into the meadow where she executes a huge turn, and finally drawing back right over the audience where she lands perfectly back on the hill.  I unfortunately missed the days when George and Edward were flying, so to now see the largest bird of prey in the world flying towards me is quite breathtaking. 

We are going to carry on working with Mrs Simpson until late this year and then give her a well earned rest until next season, when I am sure she will keep progressing in leaps and bounds, and I bet people will be visiting us just to see her fly.  She looks like a barn door in flight, casting a huge shadow wherever she goes.

All I can finally say is you’re going to have to come and see it to believe it, and I personally can’t wait until next season for just that reason!