In December
1969, Dean Carrier walked into my new office in the Ojai Ranger
Station. He tossed a piece of paper on my desk. It was obviously
old, it was grammar school-type wide-lined paper, and the brief
message was written in pencil in a not very practiced handwriting.
It had been received at the Los Padres National Forest headquarters
on 1 June 1954.
"Dear sir," it read, "Please send me any information you have on the Sisquoc Condor Sanctuary and the condors nesting there. Sincerely yours, Sanford R. Wilbur - 3903 Rhoda Ave., Oakland 2, California."
I noticed that Dean had appended a little note: "Now it becomes evident... You've had your eye on the condor job for a hell of a long time..."
I bring this up just to point out that I've been interested in the California condor for a long time. It started in the 1950s with childhood trips to Pinnacles National Monument to see the condors that reportedly nested there. (They didn't.) It continued with participation in the First October Cooperative Condor Survey in 1965. Following were twelve years as condor researcher and recovery plan developer, then three more years as Chief of Fish & Wildlife Service's endangered species program in the West. It led to books and papers on condors published, hundreds of talks given, months of library and museum research, and lately to this website. The website is my way of doing three things:
(1) Although I have published a lot about condors, there is information in my files that nobody has but me (the result of me being the last person to do an in-depth study of the original condor population). Not many people seem interested in the historical perspective right now, but someday somebody might be. Before I die, I'd like to share what I know.
(2) Although I'm not involved in condor business on a day-to-day basis, I try to keep informed. When an issue arises that I know something about (or have an opinion about, which is not always the same thing), I'll likely say something about it.
(3) Looking into the future, I'd like to see California condors inhabiting more of their former range. I'll share my ideas about where reintroductions might be planned, and about what needs to be done to extend the program.
Comments, questions, alternate opinions, etc., always welcome.
Sanford "Sandy" Wilbur - May 2009
CONTENTS
CONDORS PAST
Dead Condors: Human Stories Behind the Near Extinction of the California Condor
Introduction - Condor 101: What Happened to the Condors?
Chapter 1 - Condors and Indians
Chapter 4 - Lost on the Columbia
Appendix I - Current Locations of California Condor Specimens
Courtship Display of California Condors
Bird and Mammal Activity at California Condor Feeding Sites
How Often Did Condors Nest in Trees?
A California Condor Egg in Russia?
The Former Status of California Condors in the Pacific Northwest
People and Condors: Public Involvement
CONDORS PRESENT
Picnics at the Beach: Condors Feeding on Marine Mammals
Is Lead Poisoning
Really a WMD?
Why do condors
eat junk?
The Indian vulture
crisis: could it happen here?
Do we have
enough habitat for condors?
Where else
might condor populations be established?
CONDORS FUTURE
Bringing California Condors Back to the Pacific Northwest
Past Occurrence in the Northwest [Summary]
ORNITHOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY BOOKS FOR SALE
Condor Tales: What I Learned in Twelve Years with the Big Birds
Selected Chapter: The First Time