Phoenix the California condor survived a devastating wildfire. Now he’s fathered an egg

It’s not precisely a miracle, but the heartwarming story of Phoenix the California condor pushes the boundaries of plausibility.

Most of Big Sur’s Ventana Wilderness was torched in the colossal Basin Complex Fire, which was ignited by hundreds of lightning strikes in June 2008. Overall, 162,818 acres burned.

A survivor from that Big Sur inferno was a half-grown chick — No. 477, the offspring of condors Nos. 199 and 231.

His parents had fortuitously chosen a nest site far up in a huge redwood tree.

That nest was a large hollowed-out hole in the tree apparently created by a long-ago fire.

Since the fire’s fierce flames only blackened trees half-way up in that stately grove, the crowns were undamaged, and chick No. 477 lived.

Biologists from the Ventana Wildlife Society (VWS) did not know, until they climbed 180 feet up the redwood, if that chick survived. They were glad to discover the young bird had made it through the inferno. (You can watch a video of that dramatic 2008 climb at https://youtu.be/dXiVsDf5_0.)

Because No. 477 endured this thorny trial by fire, VWS biologists named him Phoenix, after the mythical bird who rose from the ashes.

Phoenix was already in the condor record books. He was part of the first condor nest in Big Sur in which biological parents raised their own egg.

Today, Phoenix has paired with the legendary Redwood Queen (No. 190). Much to the absolute joyful of VWS, she has laid an egg, one of three total eggs seen in California condor nests thus far in 2021.

VWS’s live condor cam of the nest shared by Phoenix and Redwood Queen can be seen at youtu.be/U8vEaOd34Pc.

Redwood Queen’s egg is estimated to have been laid on Feb. 26, and a chick is expected around April 24. That condor will hatch as a helpless critter, covered in white down with its eyes open.

Six months later, if all goes well, that chick will fledge from the nest and how to fly and survive in the wild by following mom and dad around for a year or so.

Who is Redwood Queen?

“Legendary” is an appropriate description for Redwood Queen, who was raised in captivity and released from the Los Angeles Zoo in 1998. Years ago, she was the first-ever California condor documented as laying an egg in the wild.

Redwood Queen lost her mate, Kingpin (No. 167) — who had been the most dominant male in the flock for 15 years — in the devastating Dolan Fire in 2020.

Beginning in 2006, Redwood Queen had raised several chicks with Kingpin — including chick Iniko, who is now at the Los Angeles Zoo waiting for a possible release into the wild in the fall of 2021.

Previous to Redwood Queen’s original egg, biologists with the California Condor Recovery Program used a strategy of planting eggs laid by birds in captivity in known nests of paired birds.

California condor flock impacted by Dolan Fire

About 12 years after the disastrous Basin Complex Fire, the mammoth Dolan Fire roared through the Ventana Wilderness from August through December 2020.

The blaze basically destroyed the condor sanctuary — resulted in the loss of 11 condors, including two chicks.

Meanwhile the late 2020 autumn release of nine juvenile condors raised in captivity from the rugged, rock-strewn mountains high above San Simeon had the effect of nearly balancing the books on condor transience.

However, as VWS lead condor biologist Joe Burnett pointed out, you can’t replace the knowledge and proficiency of adult birds such as Kingpin, Survivor (No. 375), Electra (No. 678), Boreas (No. 773), Arthur (No. 789) and Tonks (No. 875) — plus three others, including No. 448 from the Pinnacles flock — all missing following the Dolan Fire.

But the new year brings optimism. In February and early March, the VWS team has spotted eggs in the nests of three pairs.

Indeed, a male (No. 663) from the Big Sur flock and a female (No. 438) from Pinnacles produced an egg on Valentine’s Day.

Condors lay eggs on the dirt floor of a cave or cliff ledge — though they sometime use redwood trees — and parents take turns sheltering the eggs, which are pale blue-green at first and turn into white or creamy color toward the end of incubation.

Condor nests are about 3 feet across and up to 8 inches deep. Eggs are 3.6 to 4.7 inches in length and 2.4 to 2.7 feet in width, and incubate for 53 to 60 days, according to VWS.

Here’s something that excites biologists in 2021. Eight to 10 nests have possibly been identified, and seven condor pairs (four in Big Sur, and three in Pinnacles) are known to be nesting.

One trio is nesting within the flock originally released from the San Simeon site.

The aforementioned pairs could produce eggs, and after incubation, those chicks would launch their trek to adulthood.

This potential is exactly what The California Condor Recovery Program is designed to do: create a self-sustaining population of these majestic, endangered birds with wingspans of 9 1/2 feet.

Central California flock has 90 giant birds

Presently, although four condors have been lost in the Big Sur and Pinnacles flocks thus far this year — and VWS isn’t yet informed on the specifics on the four birds’ demise – 90 condors are in the air in the Central California flock.

All condors under the guidance of VWS are outfitted with radio transmitters so their movements can be pinpointed.

Burnett reported in a February Zoom chat that Kodiak, a juvenile condor released from San Simeon in late 2020, tested its wings by flying 30 miles on a recent day.

“I like when the juveniles do these flights. They could be following older birds to a wild carcass,” Burnett explained. “It’s just amazing the influence the older birds have on the younger birds. Maybe one younger bird will get lucky and find his first wild meal.”

The next condor Zoom chat is set for March 25 at 4 p.m. Visit ventanaws.org/zoom-chats.html to RSVP for the next Zoom, featuring Burnett and the VWS team, for updated nesting and other condor information.

This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM.