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Saving the California Condor

Editor — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:58:48 +0000

Back in 1987, the California condor was considered to be extinct in the wild, with only twenty-seven birds remaining in captivity. Now, thanks to conservation and breeding projects, America’s largest flying bird is making a comeback, and today there are a recorded number of 394 California condors in the US, with 181 of those being out in the wild.

Michael Mace of San Diego Zoo and Safari Park has noted that, all being well, a count of 400 should be reached by the end of the breeding season, a number that has not been recorded since the 1930s. It is also hoped that the wild population of California condor will reach 200 by the end of the year – with some human intervention to counteract a man-made problem. Condor’s feed on marine animal carcasses, but due to the run-off of DDT into the oceans, where it breaks down into a chemical known as DDE (Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene) and is absorbed by marine life, the birds land up eating the harmful chemical, resulting in weakened egg shells. To overcome this, conservationists replace the thin-shelled eggs with eggs that have been laid by captive birds, and these eggs are hatched naturally by the wild birds. The weakened eggs are then placed in incubators to hatch under the watchful eye of researchers. Although DDT has been banned in the US, it is still used in neighboring countries, entering rivers that run off into the ocean, creating a problem beyond the control of US authorities.

The natural habitat of the California condor is wooded mountains and scrublands. The birds have been reintroduced into the wilderness areas of California and Arizona. As scavengers that feed on dead carcasses, these huge birds are not fussy about what they eat and will tuck into rodents, rabbits, deer, cattle, sheep or fish. However, when the birds feed on animals that have been killed with buckshot, it results in lead poisoning.

Despite the obstacles, conservationists are confident that their efforts are worthwhile. There are currently four breeding centers involved in the hatching of California condor eggs – the San Diego Zoo, the Safari Park, the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, and the Oregon Zoo in Portland – with a satisfying degree of success.

2011 San Diego Bird Festival/Audubon California Assembly

Editor — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:27:22 +0000

Taking place concurrently, the 2011 San Diego Bird Festival and the Audubon California Assembly will run from 2 to 6 March 2011. The entire festival will consist of 17 Assembly events, birding trips, workshops, mixers, and the Birding & Optics Expo. The Keynote Speaker for the event will be Peter Harrison.

Date: 3 to 6 March 2011
Venue: Marina Village Conference Center
City: San Diego
State: California
Country: United States of America

The San Diego Bird Festival

Editor — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 09:37:16 +0000

The 12th San Diego Bird Festival, sponsored by the San Diego Audubon Society, is set to take place from 6 February through to 11 February 2008. The venue for this popular birding festival is the superb Marina Village Conference Center in Mission Bay, San Diego, California.

The six-day program for the San Diego Bird Festival includes many of the most popular events of past festivals, as well a several new trips and workshops. There are 48 events scheduled to take place throughout the festival. The “Local Favorites Trip” will take participants to Old Mission Dam and the Santee and Lindo Lakes – birding havens that are surrounded by busy suburbs. Bird watchers can expect to see an astounding variety and number of birds, including downy and Nuttall’s woodpeckers, wood and ring-necked ducks, western blue-bird and osprey, as well as vermillion and gray flycatchers.

The “Birds of the Anza-Borrego Desert” all-day trip starts at 5:30 to arrive at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park as the sun rises. This rugged desert environment is home to a wide variety of bird species including the great roadrunner, Costa’s hummingbird, cactus wren, phainopepla , black-tailed gnatcatcher and long-eared owl.

“Birds of the Laguna and Cuyamaca Mountains” is a trip into San Diego County’s mountains, which provide diverse environments of expanses of grasslands and chaparral as well as oak and conifer forests. Weather permitting, the group will stop off at a number of places and should be on the look out for ferruginous hawks, mountain chickadees, lark sparrows, Steller’s and western scrub-jays as well as hairy woodpecker.

Other excursions on the program include “San Diego’s Pacific Rocky Shores Trip”, “Whale Watching and Pelagic Birds off San Diego’s Coastline”, “Birding Along the Border”, “San Diego River Estuary Walk”, plus many more.

The dramatic increase of fires in Southern California over the past ten years has raised concerns among conservationists who fear that one of nature’s most diverse areas is heading for an ecological disaster. The unique “Chaparral, Wrentits and Fire Worshop and Trip” plans to give participants an in-depth look at the problems caused by fire and possible solutions to these problems.

Photographer and author, Kenn Kaufman, will be the keynote speaker at the San Diego Bird Festival banquet. As a world authority on birds and the author of a number of birding books and guides as well as being the field editor for Audubon magazine, Kenn Kaufman will be sharing some of his in-depth knowledge on bird-related subjects which includes his commitment to nature conservation.

Without a doubt, the San Diego Bird Festival is packed with opportunities to enjoy the natural beauty of birds and their habitats and is an event that no bird lover would want to miss.