The condor is one of the strongest birds that flies over the national sky. It represents "the force" in our national shield. It is distinguished by its brilliant bluish black plumage and a "choker" of white feathers around the base of the neck.
Its scientific name is Vultur gryphus. It inhabits in South America, in the mountain range of the Andes fundamentally. The bird is huge, it reaches a wingspan of 3.2 meters.
Its weight ranges between 8 and 15 kilos.
The number of offspring is one every two years.
Custom
The Andean condor nests and rests in the open on inaccessible mountain ledges, thousands of meters high. He is well endowed for life in these places. The area of its wings, the largest of all birds, allows it to go back to great heights. (The common albatross has more wingspan, but its wings are narrower).
This enormous bird takes advantage of the ascending thermal currents to fly. To control the direction of the flight, regulate the amount of air passing between the roving feathers, closing or opening them. He is able to plan for more than five kilometers. To land, lower and extend the legs, which act as brakes. The condor is clumsy on the ground, where it sits only to eat; immediately the flight goes back.
Feeding
Its diet is based on carrion and sometimes of small species or with little time of life. If you are in an unpopulated area of food you can travel more than 200 kilometers a day for your search.
He has a sharp sight. Go around in a circle, looking for herds of guanacos, llamas and alpacas, or carrion. When it locates the spoils, it rushes from the sky, followed by other condors. With its powerful beak, it tears the skin of the dead animal.
Part of the head and neck of the condor lack feathers. Since it is impossible to cleanse these areas of the body, which are stained with blood when eating, this bare skin turns out to be a very useful adaptation. In the most southern areas, the Andean condor feeds on penguins and dead fish. The condors are basically monogamous, that is, they choose a couple and stay with it for life. Only in case one of the two dies, the other seeks a new partner.
The reproductive cycle of the condor, including from the courtship to the emancipation of the chick lasts approximately two or three years. It is the species that has the longest incubation period among raptors.
The condor egg has a shared incubation between the male and the female that lasts about 60 days. When the chick is born, it is fed by both parents with regurgitated meat. In its large crop it can store up to 4 kilos of food that it then takes to the nest to feed its young. At nine months the young condor is ready to accompany his parents on their flights. From them he assimilates the basic behaviors for his survival.
To nest, they usually choose caves in large vertical rock walls, protected from the wind and the weather. The dimensions of the nests are highly variable. They deposit the only egg directly on the sandy substrate of the caves in which they have created a depression pressing the chest against the substrate. They also use the peak to give final shape to the edges of it. This behavior has been observed especially in males.
To procreate again, they must wait until the following spring.