lixhibit in Chicago Natural History Museum 



California Condor 



California condors have many claims to distinction. They are the largest of all the 

 birds of prey, with the possible exception of a related species that inhabits the Andes of 

 South America. Few birds of flight, in fact, exceed these great vultures in size. A 

 mature individual weighs about twenty-five pounds and may have a wing spread 

 measuring as much as eleven feet. 



The recorded history of the California condor, unfortunately, is similar to that of 

 various other birds that have been decimated by man in recent decades. The species 

 formerly ranged throughout the west from British Columbia south to Lower Califor- 

 nia, and eastward to Alberta and New Mexico. Fossil remains from St. Petersburg, 

 Florida, indicate an even wider distribution in prehistoric times. Although never so 

 abundant as other vultures, California condors were by no means rare west of the 

 Rocky Mountains during the early pioneer years when scores of individuals often 

 gathered about a hunter's kill. 



California condors became increasingly rare after the middle of the last century. 

 Many were killed by early prospectors who found that the hollow wing quills made 

 convenient containers for gold dust. Frontiersmen shot countless others for sport, and 

 m.any were destroyed by poisoned meat intended for animal predators. Within a few 



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