Condor Chick Hatches in Mexico

California Condors were extinct in the wild, but they're coming back. A wild hatchling in Mexico is the first there since captive-reared birds were reintroduced.

In early April, we heard that a pair of California Condors had laid an egg in Mexico—the first in seventy years. A pair of adult birds raised in captivity and later released, laid their first egg in an abandoned eagle’s nest. Though the happy event came later than scientists predicted, the egg has hatched, producing a healthy, history-making chick.

For the last two months, both parents have jointly tending their egg. Now they will share the responsibility of feeding the chick, a task that will go on for about a year. Chicks remain in the nest for two months, and don’t begin flying until five or six months. They remain with their parents for two years and are not fully mature until they are about six years old.

Here’s a photo of a very young California Condor chick.

Read more about California Condors.

Source:

The Associated Press. "California Condor Hatches in Mexico for the First Time in Decades."