The story of the California Condor—an awe-inspiring symbol of wilderness—is one of the most dramatic and contentious in conservation biology. Huge scavengers with wingspans reaching more than nine feet, Condors declined by 1985 to just nine individuals left in the wild. At that point, under a highly controversial program, the last birds were brought into captivity to create a population that could eventually be reestablished in nature. This engaging book, written by two scientists who were intimately involved with the Condor conservation effort, tells the full story of the California Condor, f... Read More
The story of the California Condor—an awe-inspiring symbol of wilderness—is one of the most dramatic and contentious in conservation biology. Huge scavengers with wingspans reaching more than nine feet, Condors declined by 1985 to just nine individuals left in the wild. At that point, under a highly controversial program, the last birds were brought into captivity to create a population that could eventually be reestablished in nature. This engaging book, written by two scientists who were intimately involved with the Condor conservation effort, tells the full story of the California Condor, f... Read More
The story of the California Condor—an awe-inspiring symbol of wilderness—is one of the most dramatic and contentious in conservation biology. Huge scavengers with wingspans reaching more than nine feet, Condors declined by 1985 to just nine individuals left in the wild. At that point, under a highly controversial program, the last birds were brought into captivity to create a population that could eventually be reestablished in nature. This engaging book, written by two scientists who were intimately involved with the Condor conservation effort, tells the full story of the California Condor, from the bird's evolution and biology to its captive breeding and subsequent releases, and its uncertain future. It introduces the largest soaring bird in the continental United States to a broad audience and at the same time presents an important case study of a critically endangered species.
Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Condors suffered from a variety of stresses—from shooting to strychnine poisoning that was an inadvertent side effect of campaigns to exterminate wolves and grizzly bears from California. Condors also faced dramatic declines in their food supply and progressively smaller foraging habitats. But as we are now coming to understand, the most important cause of their decline was lead poisoning caused by the ingestion of the ammunition fragments often present in its carrion food supply, especially in deer that were killed, but not recovered, by hunters. Noel and Helen Snyder delineate in clear fashion the myriad issues facing the Condor today and, looking to the future, convey a measure of hope that we may still achieve viable wild populations of this magnificent denizen of the California landscape.
Details
Price: $23.95
Pages: 288
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Series: California Natural History Guides
Publication Date: 14th March 2005
ISBN: 9780520938182
Format: eBook
BISACs: SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / Ornithology NATURE / Animals / General
Author Bio
Noel F. R. Snyder and Helen A. Snyder are ornithologists who specialize in birds of prey and bird conservation. Among their books are Birds of Prey: Natural History and Conservation of North American Raptors (1991) and The California Condor: A Saga of Natural History and Conservation (2000).
Table of Contents
Preface Acknowledgments
1. GIANT SCAVENGERS Important Characteristics of the California Condor Scavenging as a Lifestyle Relationship of Body Size and Bill Shape to Diet Other Specific Adaptations for Scavenging
2. FOOD AND MOVEMENTS Diet Diversity Quantitative Food Needs Finding and Competing for Food Behavior While Ingesting Food Foraging Regions Daily Movements of Breeders and Nonbreeders Movements Related to Seasonal Changes in Food Availability Changes in Food Availability in Historical Times
3. BREEDING BIOLOGY Courtship and Pair Formation Nest Sites Nest Investigations Egg Laying and Incubation Hatching and the Nestling Period Fledging Natural Enemies of Breeding Condors
4. THE HISTORIC DECLINE Early Records First Population Estimates Counts of the 1980s and a General Assessment Condor Numbers around 1900
5. WHAT CAUSED THE HISTORICAL DECLINE? EARLY HYPOTHESES Shooting Poisoning Food Scarcity Human Disturbance of Nesting Areas DDE Contamination Collisions Calcium Stress Habitat Loss Other Miscellaneous Stresses
6. STUDIES OF THE DECLINE IN THE 1980S Censusing Efforts and Determination of Mortality Rates Reproductive Studies of the 1980s Mortality Studies of the 1980s and Later Years
7. HISTORICAL CONSERVATION EFFORTS Habitat Protection Other Historic Conservation Measures Miscellaneous Conservation Efforts of the 1970s and Early 1980s Summary of Early Conservation Efforts
8. CAPTIVE BREEDING Early Opposition to Captive Breeding Reversing the Opposition to Captive Breeding Establishment of a Captive Flock Multiple-Clutching An Early-Release Proposal and the Crisis of 1985 Reproductive Performance of the Captive Flock Captive Breeding and Rearing Procedures Genetic Concerns
9. RELEASES INTO THE WILD A Rationale for Releases First Releases of Andean and California Condors A Conference on Behavioral Problems Additional Problems Summary of Progress
10. CONDOR CONSERVATION IN A CHANGING WORLD Solutions to the Lead Problem Quality versus Quantity in Release Strategies Unforeseen Problems
Timeline of Important Habitat Protection Actions References and Further Reading Art Credits Index
The story of the California Condor—an awe-inspiring symbol of wilderness—is one of the most dramatic and contentious in conservation biology. Huge scavengers with wingspans reaching more than nine feet, Condors declined by 1985 to just nine individuals left in the wild. At that point, under a highly controversial program, the last birds were brought into captivity to create a population that could eventually be reestablished in nature. This engaging book, written by two scientists who were intimately involved with the Condor conservation effort, tells the full story of the California Condor, from the bird's evolution and biology to its captive breeding and subsequent releases, and its uncertain future. It introduces the largest soaring bird in the continental United States to a broad audience and at the same time presents an important case study of a critically endangered species.
Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Condors suffered from a variety of stresses—from shooting to strychnine poisoning that was an inadvertent side effect of campaigns to exterminate wolves and grizzly bears from California. Condors also faced dramatic declines in their food supply and progressively smaller foraging habitats. But as we are now coming to understand, the most important cause of their decline was lead poisoning caused by the ingestion of the ammunition fragments often present in its carrion food supply, especially in deer that were killed, but not recovered, by hunters. Noel and Helen Snyder delineate in clear fashion the myriad issues facing the Condor today and, looking to the future, convey a measure of hope that we may still achieve viable wild populations of this magnificent denizen of the California landscape.
Price: $23.95
Pages: 288
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Series: California Natural History Guides
Publication Date: 14th March 2005
ISBN: 9780520938182
Format: eBook
BISACs: SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / Ornithology NATURE / Animals / General
Noel F. R. Snyder and Helen A. Snyder are ornithologists who specialize in birds of prey and bird conservation. Among their books are Birds of Prey: Natural History and Conservation of North American Raptors (1991) and The California Condor: A Saga of Natural History and Conservation (2000).
Preface Acknowledgments
1. GIANT SCAVENGERS Important Characteristics of the California Condor Scavenging as a Lifestyle Relationship of Body Size and Bill Shape to Diet Other Specific Adaptations for Scavenging
2. FOOD AND MOVEMENTS Diet Diversity Quantitative Food Needs Finding and Competing for Food Behavior While Ingesting Food Foraging Regions Daily Movements of Breeders and Nonbreeders Movements Related to Seasonal Changes in Food Availability Changes in Food Availability in Historical Times
3. BREEDING BIOLOGY Courtship and Pair Formation Nest Sites Nest Investigations Egg Laying and Incubation Hatching and the Nestling Period Fledging Natural Enemies of Breeding Condors
4. THE HISTORIC DECLINE Early Records First Population Estimates Counts of the 1980s and a General Assessment Condor Numbers around 1900
5. WHAT CAUSED THE HISTORICAL DECLINE? EARLY HYPOTHESES Shooting Poisoning Food Scarcity Human Disturbance of Nesting Areas DDE Contamination Collisions Calcium Stress Habitat Loss Other Miscellaneous Stresses
6. STUDIES OF THE DECLINE IN THE 1980S Censusing Efforts and Determination of Mortality Rates Reproductive Studies of the 1980s Mortality Studies of the 1980s and Later Years
7. HISTORICAL CONSERVATION EFFORTS Habitat Protection Other Historic Conservation Measures Miscellaneous Conservation Efforts of the 1970s and Early 1980s Summary of Early Conservation Efforts
8. CAPTIVE BREEDING Early Opposition to Captive Breeding Reversing the Opposition to Captive Breeding Establishment of a Captive Flock Multiple-Clutching An Early-Release Proposal and the Crisis of 1985 Reproductive Performance of the Captive Flock Captive Breeding and Rearing Procedures Genetic Concerns
9. RELEASES INTO THE WILD A Rationale for Releases First Releases of Andean and California Condors A Conference on Behavioral Problems Additional Problems Summary of Progress
10. CONDOR CONSERVATION IN A CHANGING WORLD Solutions to the Lead Problem Quality versus Quantity in Release Strategies Unforeseen Problems
Timeline of Important Habitat Protection Actions References and Further Reading Art Credits Index
