🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
Condors often roost communally after traveling long distances during the day.
Tracking studies have documented California condors traveling more than 150 miles in a single day while searching for food. Using thermals and ridge updrafts, they conserve energy while covering vast distances. Such mobility allows them to exploit widely scattered carcasses. It also connects distant populations genetically and socially. However, wide-ranging behavior increases exposure to varied environmental threats. A bird that feeds safely in one region may encounter contamination in another. Long-distance flight is both strength and risk.
💥 Impact (click to read)
Covering 150 miles in a day places condors among the most wide-ranging land birds in North America. This mobility reduces competition by expanding potential feeding grounds. It also means conservation must account for enormous territories. Localized regulations may not protect birds that routinely cross jurisdictions. Landscape-scale coordination becomes essential.
The condor's daily range dwarfs many protected areas. Its survival cannot be confined to park boundaries alone. Industrial hazards scattered across its travel network compound cumulatively. The very wings that allow it to traverse mountain systems also expose it to dispersed human activity. Recovery depends on harmonizing policy across every mile those wings can carry it.
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