Today, we’re going to learn all about a fascinating bird called the condor. Let’s dive into some fun facts about these amazing creatures!
A condor is a huge black bird with a special white patch under its wings. It has the largest wingspan of any bird in North America, stretching about 9 feet wide! Condors have a ring of feathers around their necks and gray legs, and they weigh around 20 pounds. Unlike most birds of prey, female condors are smaller than males. When flying high in the sky, they might look like tiny airplanes from a distance!
Condors have bald heads and necks, which help them stay clean. The sun’s ultraviolet light keeps their skin healthy and free from germs. Their skin can change color from yellowish to bright reddish-orange, depending on their mood. Imagine if your skin changed color when you felt different emotions!
Condors are related to storks, but their feet are better for walking. While many birds use their sharp talons to catch prey, condors have long toes with blunt claws, making it easier for them to stroll around.
Condors are always on the lookout for food and can travel up to 150 miles in a single day to find it! They eat carrion, which is the meat from dead animals. Condors love to feast on large animals like deer, sheep, and even bears, but they’ll also eat smaller animals like rabbits and reptiles.
Condors don’t have a sense of smell, so they rely on their sharp eyesight to spot food from high above. They use their strong beaks to tear meat from carcasses and can scare away other animals trying to eat the same meal, except for bears and golden eagles, who aren’t easily intimidated.
These birds need large areas of land to find enough food. They don’t eat every day; sometimes, they go without food for up to two weeks and then eat a lot at once!
Condors are very clean birds. After eating, they spend a lot of time cleaning their feathers with their beaks. They even use water, rocks, and plants to help them stay tidy. Condors are social animals and enjoy spending time with other condors, just like you enjoy hanging out with your friends!
When it gets hot, condors have a unique way of cooling down. Instead of sweating, they release heat by defecating on their legs. It might sound strange, but it works for them!
Condors are like nature’s cleanup crew. They help keep the environment clean by eating dead animals that could spread diseases. This helps keep humans and other animals healthy. Condors are also sensitive to pollution, so they can alert us to areas that might be unhealthy.
Unfortunately, condor populations have decreased due to lead poisoning, poaching, and habitat destruction. In 1987, the U.S. government took action to protect them by bringing all wild condors into captivity to help their numbers grow. Now, there are enough condors to release some back into the wild!
Why do condors need large areas of land to find food? It’s because they travel up to 150 miles a day in search of food!
True or False: One reason condor populations decreased was because of habitat destruction. If you said true, you’re correct!
Which word best describes the condor?
A) Minuscule
B) Aggressive
C) Dull
D) Endangered
E) Predator
The answer is D) Endangered. Great job, bird brainiacs! We hope you enjoyed learning about condors. For more fun lessons, visit us at learn.org!
Condor Wingspan Activity: Let’s explore how big a condor’s wingspan really is! With the help of an adult, use a measuring tape to measure out 9 feet on the ground. This is how wide a condor’s wings can spread! Now, lie down next to the measurement and see how many of you it takes to match the wingspan of a condor. How does it compare to your own arm span?
Condor Mood Colors: Condors can change the color of their skin based on their mood. Think about how you feel when you’re happy, sad, or excited. Draw a picture of a condor and use different colors to show how it might look when it’s feeling different emotions. What colors would you use for a happy condor? How about a sleepy one?
Nature’s Cleanup Crew: Condors help keep the environment clean by eating dead animals. Go on a nature walk with an adult and look for things in nature that help keep the environment clean. Can you find any insects or plants that help clean up the earth? Draw or take pictures of what you find and share your discoveries with your class.
**Sanitized Transcript:**
[Music]
Hello, animal lovers! Today we are going to learn all about condors. You can read along with us by downloading this lesson plan from our website, learn.org.
**What is a condor?**
A condor is a very large black bird with a triangular patch of white on the underside of its wings. At around 9 feet, the condor has the largest wingspan of any bird in North America. They have a ring of feathers around the base of their neck and gray legs, weighing about 20 pounds. Usually, with birds of prey, the female is larger, but female condors are actually smaller than male ones. However, that doesn’t mean the females are petite. Sometimes condors get mistaken for small distant airplanes when they are flying. Condors have a bald head and neck, an adaptation for hygiene. When they fly at high altitudes, the condor’s skin is exposed to ultraviolet light, which disinfects it. This makes them resistant to disease and infection, and they have powerful stomach juices for digesting decaying flesh. Depending on the bird’s mood, its skin color ranges from yellowish to bright reddish-orange. When their skin changes color, it is also a way for them to communicate with other condors. Imagine if your skin changed color based on your mood!
Condors are similar to their cousin, the stork; however, the condor’s feet have adapted to be more helpful in walking. For example, many birds of prey use their talons as weapons, but not condors. Instead, they have an elongated middle toe with straight, blunt talons, making it easier for them to walk around.
**What do condors eat?**
Wild condors can travel up to 150 miles a day for food. As a result, they have vast territories in which to find food. Condors eat carrion, which is the decaying carcass of a dead animal. They prefer to feast on mammals like deer, sheep, goats, donkeys, horses, pigs, mountain lions, bears, or cows, but they will also eat the bodies of smaller animals like rabbits, coyotes, and even reptiles. You might think that what condors eat would smell terrible, but lucky for the condor, they don’t have a sense of smell. Instead, condors have sharp eyesight, so they soar high above on wind thermals looking for dead things. They also find carrion by looking for other scavengers who cannot rip through the tough hides of larger animals. Condors use their sharp hooked beaks and powerful jaws to yank, pull, and tear meat from a carcass. They will also intimidate other scavengers, causing them to leave a carcass, except for bears and golden eagles. Bears don’t care if a condor is around and will ignore them, while the golden eagle will stand its ground and fight.
Condors need vast areas of undeveloped land to find food in the wild. They are intermittent eaters, going anywhere between 2 days and 2 weeks without eating, then gorging themselves on meat all at once. In fact, sometimes condors eat so much that they can’t lift themselves off the ground to fly away.
**Other interesting facts:**
Condors are very particular about cleaning themselves, especially after a meal. They preen, which means they straighten and clean their feathers with their beak. They also use pond water to clean and dry themselves for hours. If there is no water around, they use rocks and plants as napkins to help clean their bodies. Condors are very social animals and enjoy being around other condors. They can form strong bonds with each other, just like you form strong bonds with your friends. They are also very playful and curious. Condors love to play, preen each other, or get together to inspect new things they find in the area. When it gets hot outside, condors don’t sweat like we do to release heat. Instead, they cool down by defecating on their legs, which may sound unappealing but is an effective way for them to reduce their body temperature. The scientific name for this is urohidrosis.
**Why are condors important to the environment?**
Condors are like the cleanup crew of the wild. They are beneficial for the environment because they eat animal carcasses that could transmit diseases to humans, wildlife, and livestock. In other words, when they eat the carcasses, they help prevent disease outbreaks, allowing us to stay healthy because condors do the dirty work. Condors are also sensitive to certain toxins and pollutants, bringing attention to areas that may be ecologically unhealthy.
Condor populations decreased due to lead poisoning, poaching, and habitat destruction. In 1987, the population had gotten so low that the U.S. government captured all the wild condors and put them in captivity to help their numbers grow again. Recently, there are now enough condors that some of them are being released back into the wild.
**Let’s review some cool facts about condors!**
Why do condors need vast land areas to find food?
Condors travel up to 150 miles a day in search of food and need undeveloped land to find it. True or false: One of the reasons that condor populations decreased was because of habitat destruction. If you said true, you’re correct!
Choose the word that the author would say best describes the condor:
A) Minuscule
B) Aggressive
C) Dull
D) Endangered
E) Predator
The answer is D) Endangered. Well done, bird brainiacs! Hope you had fun learning with us. Visit us at learn.org for thousands of free resources and turnkey solutions for teachers and homeschoolers.
[Music]
