Pretty amazing but also the worstâ: Endangered condors descend on California home
and last updated 2021-05-11 10:16:42-04
TEHACHAPI, Calif. â A California woman is trying to respect one of natureâs endangered raptors, after they descended on her home and are being destructive guests.
Thanks to efforts to increase populations, there are about 200 California condors living in the wild in California.
More than a dozen of the large birds have decided to call Cinda Mickolsâ place their home for now. Mickols lives about two hours outside Los Angeles.
She had seen condors near her property before, but she was not prepared for what she saw last week.
California condors are one of the most endangered bird species in the United States. They're considered "Critically Endangered," which is one step away from them being extinct in the wild. They have an incredibly small range that covers small sections of California, Arizona, and Utah, and there are only around 500 of the birds still alive, both in the wild and in captivity. There are so few of the condors left that you'd be hard-pressed to find.
May. 06, 2021California MORE The California condor is the largest bird in North America. A flock of them invaded the home of a woman who lives in the Tehachapi Mountains. Photo by Georgi Baird/Shutterstock.
The majestic California condor is the largest bird in North America. It’s also one of the most endangered species in nature. In the 1980s, less than two dozen birds remained in the wild. Today, after efforts to breed the bird in captivity, the California condor is making a comeback.
It worked so well that an entire flock of condors invaded the home of a woman who lives in the Tehachapi Mountains. They trashed her deck and possibly roosted on her roof.
She does think this is pretty amazing but also the worst. They don’t have to leave her property but leave the house alone. They keep hanging out on her roof and railings messing with stuff and pooping everywhere. Trees are fine but not the house please pic.twitter.com/QhE9XVERZF Seana Lyn (@SeanaLyn) May 5, 2021 The
SF Gate article (written by former
Journal staffer Ashley Harrell) quotes a response from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Twitter account, which notes the woman s home, which the
Times reports is in the Tehachapi Mountains, is part of the bird s historic range and offers some advice.
May 7, 2021 | 9:23 AM
Since she first moved to a rocky hilltop north of Los Angeles, Cinda Mickols had grown used to the occasional sight of California condors in the distance.
In pairs or groups of three, the endangered birds – recognizable by their massive, 10-foot wingspan – would glide through the air or perch on faraway trees as she gazed out at the Tehachapi Mountains.
On Monday, however, she arrived home to find that a massive flock of the condors had descended upon – and trashed – her own property. Of all 160 birds left in the state, an “extraordinary” one in ten were congregating atop her roof or on her wooden deck, which is now covered in white excrement as thick as concrete.