4 Condor Chicks to Be Released Into Los Padres Forest

Four young California condors are set to be released today into the Los Padres National Forest, joining 15 adult condors who already range the area where northern Ventura and Santa Barbara counties meet Kern and San Luis Obispo counties.

With an estimated 116 condors remaining in the world, “releasing these four is a big step,” said Jane Hendron of the Ventura-based California Condor Recovery Program.

The four 7-month-old chicks come from the Los Angeles Zoo and San Diego Wildlife Preserve and will be set free in the Cuyama Valley region in Santa Barbara County.

The adult and baby condors all have minuscule radio transmitters attached to their wings.

“So we’re able to monitor their whereabouts every hour of the day,” said Hendron, whose program is a division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Each bird even has its own unique radio frequency.”

That’s how scientists know when and where the huge, endangered birds with 9-foot wingspans spend their time.

“Pine Mountain and Reyes Peak in Ventura County are popular stopping off places for the adult birds, so we expect the younger birds will join them,” she said.

“But these guys range far and wide. We had a recent rare four-bird visit to Tulare County, and the birds have even been spotted flying over the Tehachapi Mountains for the first time ever,” Hendron added.

The birds’ release, originally scheduled for Monday, was postponed by the first rainstorm in the mountains in 10 months.