California Condor Problems
Researchers at the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in California recently had to remove a condor chick from the nest of male #21 and female #192. The chick appeared to be underdeveloped and was losing feathers; however, once in hand, the bird seemed to have something impacted in its crop and gut.
After transporting the chick to the Los Angeles Zoo, and following a three-hour operation, an astounding amount of material was removed from the ventriculus and proventriculus of the condor chick. The following items were among the debris removed from the chick: 4 bottle caps and a screw top, 3 electrical fittings, 5 washers, 13 22-caliber shell-casings, 1 38-caliber shell-casing, a shotgun-shell, several pieces of plastic bags, about a quarter cup of broken glass and a similar amount of broken plastic, a few small pieces of fabric, 4 small stones, a metal bracket, a piece of wire, and a few small pieces of rubber.
Fortunately, it did not appear that any of this remarkable collection of detritus perforated the gut, and the chick appears to be doing well.
Does this mean that all adult condors are attracted to ubiquitous shiny objects and will bring them back to their nest for their chicks? Or does this simply mean that male #21 and/or female #192 have this tendency? These sorts of objects are virtually everywhere in a condor's environment.
