Notes from the artist Barnaby Whitfield: For me the California Condor is the Phoenix from the flames. Brought to the brink of extinction by man. Completely removed from the wild to then be successfully reintroduced. Given the tools to survive man by man. It's the perfect analogy for what art is to me. I removed myself from the damaging aspects of my existence. I removed myself from what formed me and used the baggage from that life to create the towering safe haven from the continually rising tide. I make a living painting pretty pictures of my inner grotesqueries. The story of this majestic creature that feasts on death, preferring the rotting carcasses of our great fatty farm animals is the perfect example of what can happen when we finally open our eyes and pay attention. When we take action.
Oh and their face color changes with their emotional state...everyone knows I love to paint a rosy flush of the cheek.
More about The Peregrine Fund's California Condor Restoration Initiative: The goal of this program is to establish self-sustaining wild populations of California Condors through captive propagation, release, and management with the ultimate goal of removing the species from the Endangered Species List.
Oh and their face color changes with their emotional state...everyone knows I love to paint a rosy flush of the cheek.
More about The Peregrine Fund's California Condor Restoration Initiative: The goal of this program is to establish self-sustaining wild populations of California Condors through captive propagation, release, and management with the ultimate goal of removing the species from the Endangered Species List.
ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA CONDOR
The California condor is generally considered a somewhat unsightly bird, with its bald, fleshy head, black feathers and and a wingspan exceeding 9 feet in length. This large bird's numbers declined along with the other megafauna of North America, originally driven to the brink of extinction due to poaching for feathers and eggs, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction. In recent years California condors have made a comeback, but remain critically endangered.
During the early 1800's the California condor occupied mountains along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to northern Baja California. In the mid-twentieth century, only a small population remained in south-central California.
By the 1980's the condor's situation was dismal. The population had declined to less than 20 birds. These remaining birds were captured for captive breeding programs. Today there are 180 California condors in the wild due to the continued efforts of conservationists and captive breeding programs.
This spring, for the first time in over 100 years, a California condor was born in the wild. Born to parents released from the breeding program in 2004 the condor babe is being cared for in a cave 2,600 feet off the ground in Pinnacles National Monument. If it's parents are successful in rearing their newborn, the young condor could take it's first flight as soon as early October. If this chick survives it will mark a huge milestone for California condor recovery efforts.
Although these recovery efforts for the condor have been largely successful the bird is still threatened by lead poisoning. California condors are scavengers and inadvertently ingest lead shot or bullet fragments while dining on carcasses or gut piles left behind by hunters. In 2008 California legislature has outlawed the use of lead ammunition by hunters in areas designated as California condor range. Still, lead poisoning remains the greatest threat to the species. Other threats can be the result of unsavvy condors, raised in captivity. These birds perch on power lines or get too close to humans, who continue to shoot or poison this critically endangered species.
The California condor is generally considered a somewhat unsightly bird, with its bald, fleshy head, black feathers and and a wingspan exceeding 9 feet in length. This large bird's numbers declined along with the other megafauna of North America, originally driven to the brink of extinction due to poaching for feathers and eggs, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction. In recent years California condors have made a comeback, but remain critically endangered.
During the early 1800's the California condor occupied mountains along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to northern Baja California. In the mid-twentieth century, only a small population remained in south-central California.
By the 1980's the condor's situation was dismal. The population had declined to less than 20 birds. These remaining birds were captured for captive breeding programs. Today there are 180 California condors in the wild due to the continued efforts of conservationists and captive breeding programs.
This spring, for the first time in over 100 years, a California condor was born in the wild. Born to parents released from the breeding program in 2004 the condor babe is being cared for in a cave 2,600 feet off the ground in Pinnacles National Monument. If it's parents are successful in rearing their newborn, the young condor could take it's first flight as soon as early October. If this chick survives it will mark a huge milestone for California condor recovery efforts.
Although these recovery efforts for the condor have been largely successful the bird is still threatened by lead poisoning. California condors are scavengers and inadvertently ingest lead shot or bullet fragments while dining on carcasses or gut piles left behind by hunters. In 2008 California legislature has outlawed the use of lead ammunition by hunters in areas designated as California condor range. Still, lead poisoning remains the greatest threat to the species. Other threats can be the result of unsavvy condors, raised in captivity. These birds perch on power lines or get too close to humans, who continue to shoot or poison this critically endangered species.
