Marble
California Condor Ambassador
Female
2019 / Adult
Injured Humerus
About Marble
Marble came to us from the Peregrine Fund Condor Recovery Group in 2019. She was born in 2005 and lived in the wild for 14 years before a humerus fracture in her left wing brought her to us. Unfortunately, the fracture to the humerus meant she couldn’t be released. Marble was named after Marble Canyon.
Description
The California Condor is the largest bird in North America. In the 1980s, the total population of condors in the wild reached an all-time low of just 22. They are endangered and still closely monitored by federal and state government agencies, as well as non-profit organizations.
Habitat
California Condors range from scrubby chaparral to forested mountain regions. Condors will forage in an area encompassing 2,700 square miles from their nesting site.
Range
California Condors are only found in a fraction of their original range. They now can be found in southern and central California, Arizona, Utah, and Baja California.
Life Span
California Condors can live to up to 60 years in the wild and more than 60 years in captivity.
Prey / Food
California Condors eat carrion. They favor small to medium-sized carcasses. They swallow bones and bone chips in order to meet their calcium needs.
Babies / Nests
California Condors typically nest in caves or ledges along cliffs. They usually lay their eggs directly on the dirt floor, but have been known to construct loose piles of leaves, bark, or gravel from the nesting site. California Condors have an extremely low reproduction rate. They lay only one egg per nesting attempt, and they don’t always nest every year. The babies will rely on their parents for more than 12 months.
Native American Folklore
Native Americans revere Condor, the largest free flying bird in their natural world. Since time beginning Condor has ruled the skies and captured the imagination of Native people throughout its range.
To Native people Condor is a powerful Spirit Helper. He is ancestral chief, shaman, healer, sorcerer, messenger, and finder of lost objects. Condor is also a kidnapper, robber, gambler, and even a killer.
There are approximately 60 major tribes in California, and they have over 65 known names for Condor: Moloko, Almiyi, Hol-Hol, and Wit. Just to name a few.
Condor feathers are used in dances and ceremonies when made into skirts, capes, and head- dresses. Native people believe these feathers possess the power and spirit of Condor, of which they were once a living part.
Hupa shaman used bundles of Condor primary feathers, often with serrations cut into the feathers’ edges as part of their healing implements.
Native people believe Condor makes thunder with the flapping of his enormous wings and that lighting flashes from his red eyes; they also believe it is Condor that holds the upper world (sky) aloft on his enormous wings and causes solar and lunar eclipses.
The Wiyot tell a creation story about how their ancestors were condors. They say that Condor knew in advance that the world was going to be flooded, so he and his sister wove a large basket in which they hid to survive the flood. After the waters subsided Condor married his sister, and their handsome, well-spoken children became the ancestors of the Wiyot.
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