In South America, an amazing bird lives, nicknamed the "soul of the Andes" - the Andean condor. Its unusual silhouette and impressive size led to the fact that some of the original inhabitants of the western part of the mainland deify this majestic representative of the feathered world, while others are afraid of him and consider meeting him a bad sign. Under a raid omen and superstition hides a charming creature on the verge of extinction. Let's take a closer look at this rare species.
Appearance
Andean Condor - a representative of the vulture family, which is huge in size. The wingspan of this bird is more than three meters, which is more than any other feathered predator. The color of the feathers of the Andean condor is mostly black with white tips. One of the most expressive signs is a fluffy white collar on the neck. Males differ from females in the presence of peculiar leathery “earrings” on the upper part of the neck, as well as a large crest that majestically rises above their head. With it, they can convey their mood by painting the surface of the ridge in different colors. The absence of plumage on the head is also of practical importance - this allows the skin to clean faster under the influence of sunlight.
The mass of an adult Andean condor is from 7 to 15 kg, which makes it the largest bird of prey on the planet. At the same time, males are much larger than females. The length of their bodies varies from 110 to 140 cm. The structure of the claws of the Andean condor is such that it cannot hunt live prey, and even less so, to raise small animals into the air.
Habitat
Andean condor, as its name implies, lives in the Andes mountain range in South America. This type of condor has its nests on the mountain peaks, where predators and other pests cannot reach them. It is also a great help for take-off, because such a massive bird is not easy to rise from the ground. In the southern regions, Andean condors are found even in more or less flat terrain. Despite the fact that these huge birds prefer to equip their nests in the mountains, they need plains to search for food, since it is easier to spot dead animals on their surface.
Food
The diet of the Andean condor consists mainly of carrion, although they do not disdain the chicks or eggs of some birds. In search of food, these tireless and keen scavengers are able to cover about 200 km per day. The Andean Condor is a smart bird, it carefully monitors other lovers of carrion, so that by their behavior they can understand where its prey awaits. But he does not take food from his smaller colleagues. In fact, crows and other, smaller American vultures, only benefit from the arrival of the Andean condor, because it is able to break the thick skin of an animal with its powerful beak. After that, weaker birds can easily get to the cherished goodies.
It is interesting that sometimes the Andean condors eat off so much that for a while they can not even take off the ground. The result of such greed is the ability to do without food for the next few days. But this habit also has a significant drawback - local residents often kept watch for a satiated condor and killed him, taking advantage of the fact that he could not fly up. In general, the relations of this amazing bird with people are rather complicated.
Human influence
Today, it is almost impossible to see the Andean condor in its natural habitat. The only thing left for us to remember about them is a photo of birds and individuals contained in zoos. All this is due to the "care" of people who have zealously exterminated these representatives of the feathered world for the past century. Condor is a large bird, so getting into it from a firearm was not difficult, as a result of which this most useful species is on the verge of extinction.
But not only hunting reduced the number of Andean condors. Much more damage was done to them by the destruction of the environment that people carry with them. Due to negative changes in the habitat, the number of these magnificent birds has decreased many times. But the Andean condor performed a very important function. If you do not eat corpses of animals in time, then they become the source of many diseases. Therefore, zoologists are doing their best to restore the Andean condor population by breeding it in captivity and resorting to many other tricks.
Breeding
This species of condor begins reproduction upon reaching 5-6 years. Around the beginning of spring, males begin to perform their mating dance in front of females. If the lady is impressed by the "show" of the male, then they form a couple that will be together for the rest of their lives. Andean condors rarely produce offspring - once every 1-2 years. Therefore, it is so difficult to artificially increase their population. However, if the egg is lost, the female will try to lay a new one. Then, for 54-58 days, caring parents hatch the egg together, after which a small, helpless chick is born from it.
The baby is fed, belching slightly digested food in its hungry beak. Usually the young people's easy life lasts up to 2 years, after which they have to leave their native nest. By this time, they fly perfectly, as training in this difficult matter begins at the age of six months. If condors form a large family, then a clear hierarchy is established in it.
Andean condors in captivity
One of the unexpected places where the Andean condor lives is the Moscow Zoo. As it turned out, these birds can live peacefully in captivity. Some individuals were so well mastered in the walls of the zoo that they survived there until 70 years. The daily diet of the Andean condor in captivity is approximately 1.5 kg of meat, 200 g of fish and a couple of rats. Obviously, such a menu appealed to exotic guests. An example of this is a condor from a Moscow zoo nicknamed Kuzya. He was caught as an adult, but he lived in captivity for more than 60 years.
Since then, many condors that fell into the Moscow zoo received the nickname Kuzya. Today, two South American birds live in the walls of the zoo - a male and a female. Let's hope that they will leave offspring, increasing the population of Andean condors on Earth. Photos of birds majestically located in their enclosures are kept as a keepsake in the archives of the zoo.
