Juvenile condors to be released in San Simeon — and you can watch it live

Seven juvenile California condors are scheduled to fly free Tuesday from their immense holding pen in the mountains above San Simeon.

The release of the seven-bird cohort, which arrived in October, will occur between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. and may be watched live on the new San Simeon Condor Sanctuary Cam at www.ventanaws.org/condor_cam. The cam is live now, so the seven birds are visible in their holding pen.

Biologist Joe Burnett, Condor Program manager for the Ventana Wildlife Society, will also narrate the release on Zoom.

Raised in captivity at the San Diego Zoo Global, the enormous, endangered birds — 1.5 years old with 9-1/2 foot wingspans — will join the 28 juveniles previously released from the San Simeon holding pen. Of those, 24 are alive and soaring free.

When the holding pen’s door swings open, condors typically do not immediately exit. Sometimes young condors — who have not yet experienced flight — linger at the open door, figuring out what they should do next.

Two, or perhaps three of the birds are expected to exit on Tuesday. The remainder of the cohort is set to be released Saturday, Dec. 5, from 9 a.m. to noon.

Burnett explains that Condor Cam viewers should expect “the release to occur over time. The opening of the door is just the first step. After that, the real work begins to ensure their return to the release site to feed and establish healthy routines.

“Our approach to condor releases is in the best interest of the condors first and foremost,” Burnett explained in an email. Hence, VWS condor specialists never know ahead of time which birds will leave first.

Moreover, there are monthly Zoom-chats available at ventanaws.org/zoom-chats, where the public can ask questions and learn more about condors, the recent fires, their partnership with explore.org, which installed and operate the live cams at the VWS facility and condor nests.

The seven-condor cohort received names that honor descendants of Central California’s indigenous cultures: The Salinan, Esselen and Rumsen tribal communities. Visit VWS’s website to hear the names of the condors spoken by Native Americans from the three tribal communities.

There are 90 condors flying free in Central California, soaring between the Big Sur flock and condors in Pinnacles National Park. Some 507 birds are in the air in the Western United States.

Additional information on the condor release and the fundraising drive to rebuild the Big Sur Condor Sanctuary, which was destroyed by the fast-moving and fierce Dolan Fire, is available at www.ventanaws.org.

This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 5:00 AM.