A California condor flew into Oregon last month, becoming the first free-flying condor documented in the state since 1904.
Condor B9, a little more than two years old, was released into the wild last year by the Yurok Tribe’s condor restoration program. The tribe has been releasing condors since 2022.
FILE — Yurok Wildlife Department Technician Sandra Hahn releases condor B9 into the Tribe's management facility.
Courtesy of Yurok Tribe / JPR
The visit marks another milestone in efforts to restore the critically endangered species. California condors nearly went extinct in the 1980s, when the last 22 birds were captured for a captive breeding program. Conservation efforts have since helped rebuild the population and reestablish condors in the wild.
Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department Director Tiana Williams Claussen said B9 is an especially curious bird.
“She flew almost 100 miles per day,” Williams Claussen said, ”which means she was really utilizing the landscape the way that only a condor can, really taking advantage of those mountains and riverways that give good flight corridors.”
Condor B9 traveled in a roughly 380-mile loop over four days, flying north from Redwood National Park through Redding before entering Oregon and passing near Medford, Cave Junction and Brookings.
Williams Claussen said condors are highly social, so she would not be surprised if other birds follow B9 into Oregon in the future.
“Our condors are doing exactly what condors need to do,” she said. ”Exploring and learning the landscape in a way that is very wild and free and a good indicator of their success over the long term.”
The Oregon flight is one of several recent milestones for the Yurok condor program. In March, two condors built a nest in the cavity of a redwood tree and laid the first egg produced by the Northern California flock, but it failed to hatch.
“Even with the egg loss, that was still a really amazing milestone for us,” Williams Claussen said. “It’s pretty common that eggs will fail in that first year, as these naive parents are really figuring it out.”
Williams Claussen said they currently have 23 condors in the wild, all of which recently passed health checkups.The tribe hopes to release additional condors this summer.
Roman Battaglia is a reporter with the JPR newsroom. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
