Condor Watch Talk

Scale Info and Photo

  • wreness by wreness moderator

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    #scale - if you can see the tag of the bird that's on the scale and if you can read the weight. The data can be recorded for a Health Check on the bird.

    If you can't read the scale but do see the tag, someone might be able to read the scale (we have a lot of eagle eyes here or those blessed with giant monitors.

    If there's no tag visible then just mark them the distance they are from the carcass or mark "no carcass". Pretend the scale is invisible. You have to do this when the carcass is blocking the view of things, too.

    If you see a photo with just a scale in it, or carcasses and a scale, ravens and a scale, etc., we still don't mark the scales. Invisible scale 😄

    Here's a big, clear photo of the exact scale used on Condor Watch.

    enter image description here

    The scales are in American Pounds (lb.) and the written numbers go up by 2 pounds; there's a mark for in between for each 1 pound. (You don't have to worry about half-pounds or increments, just whole pounds)

    Sometimes the photos are bad and unclear, as you know Tip: look for the needle at the center circle of the dial where that might put a shadow, if there's too much sun. Look for the "10" since that's where the numbers visually get "wider" - you can usually see that if the photo is blurry. Then count by 2's until you find where the needle is.

    If you ever see a scale with a big 3-sided wooden box around it, this adds 10 pounds to the weight. A condor might weigh 24 pounds on these scales. (They are between 16 pounds on the light end to 25 on the heavy end if they have just eaten until they're ready to explode). If you want to deduct the 10 for the wooden box, you can. If not, the scientists know the box adds 10 pounds.

    Hope this helps! Thanks for the question (and all you do here of course!)

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