In their diaries, Lewis and Clark documented that they saw dozens of condors during their trek through the Grand Canyon nearly 200 years ago. The gangly-looking black birds, members of the vulture family, are the largest flying land birds in North America. Since 1996, ornithologists have released lab-born condors into the canyon and in rural parts of California, bringing the number of birds living in the wild to 70. Several of these condors have laid eggs in recent years in California, and last year in the Grand Canyon, but all the chicks had died in their shells. “We’ve found high concentrations of lead in the shells and in the blood of the adult condors,” says Parish. “We know that some of the lead has come from lead shot but we don’t know if that explains the whole picture.” This Grand Canyon chick, if it remains alive and well, will likely fledge in September–and become the canyon’s sweetest sight.
