Condor Watch Talk

Brutal fight between Adult male 335 and juvenile male 588, who died of "unknown causes" in 2012

  • mboschmd by mboschmd

    Maybe we now know why 588 spent most of his time wandering outside the park at Pinnacles National Monument. Seems an older male has a major beef with poor 588, and is giving him a major a** kicking. Must be an alpha male thing going on, and poor 588 got the message and went elsewhere to find a place where he could be accepted. Being a teenager is tough, no matter what species you are...

    Posted

  • wreness by wreness moderator in response to miltonbosch's comment.

    Holy Odin, that's vicious. Someone needs a serious "time out" in a corner. I didn't know they got that nasty with each other, incredible pic!

    Posted

  • zekazoo by zekazoo scientist

    This is an amazing photo. Aggressive behavior like this is isn't unusual but definitely falls into the more extreme realm of condor fighting. More often a bite or a quick chase does the trick. Scientist vjbakker informed me that this condor was recently fledged at the time this photo was taken, and that ultimately the bird didn't make it in the wild. It's difficult to know sometimes whether illness or submissiveness comes first, but this photo indicates that this bird was put in its place at least once by an established adult. Thank you for flagging this photo!

    Posted

  • vjbakker by vjbakker scientist

    Thanks Zeka! Zeka has spent years working with and observing condors in the wild so she has a good perspective on the normal range of behavior

    Posted

  • wreness by wreness moderator

    Thanks, Zeka. I started a collection of interactions I find in photos and have been amazed that the condors are so dramatic about their fights- when they go at it, they really go at it. I guess when you're that big it looks scarier to us.

    Posted