Andean condor

안데스콘도르

A giant bird with a wingspan over 3 m that can soar for hours on rising air without flapping. It feeds on dead animals, cleaning up the mountains, and can live more than 50 years.

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At a glance

Class: Birds
Lives in: Andes, Argentina
Diet: Scavenger
Weight: about 11 kg
Length: about 1.2 m
Lifespan: up to about 75 years
Conservation status: Vulnerable (IUCN VU)
Habitat: mountains, grasslands, coasts

Quick answers

Where does the Andean condor live?

It lives in mountains, grasslands, coasts. On the globe you can find it near Andes, Argentina.

How big is the Andean condor?

It grows to about 1.2 m and 11 kg.

What does the Andean condor eat?

Its diet: scavenger.

How long does the Andean condor live?

It can live up to about 75 years.

Is the Andean condor endangered?

It is listed as Vulnerable (IUCN VU).

The Andean condor is a giant vulture that lives along the Andes, the long mountain range on the western side of South America. It is found from Venezuela and Colombia all the way south to Tierra del Fuego, soaring over high peaks, canyons, open grasslands and, in the south, along the coast. Adults are black with a fluffy white ring of feathers around the neck and a bare, featherless head.

When you combine its weight and its wingspan, the Andean condor is the largest flying bird in the world. Its wings can stretch up to about 3.3 metres, and it can weigh up to around 15 kilograms. It is a national symbol of several Andean countries, including Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and plays a big part in the region's folklore. Sadly, it is listed as Vulnerable, which means it is at risk.

Master of the sky

A condor flaps hard to take off, but once it is up in the air it hardly flaps at all. Instead it rides thermals, which are columns of warm, rising air, and gusts that sweep up the sides of cliffs. This lets it glide for long distances while using very little energy. When it soars, the tips of its long wing feathers curl upward, which reduces drag, the push of air that slows things down. Aeroplane designers have used the same idea on some wings.

What it eats

Like other vultures, the Andean condor is mainly a scavenger, which means it eats animals that are already dead. It searches for food by soaring high and scanning the ground with its sharp eyes, and it also watches other scavengers to find a meal. It prefers large carcasses such as llamas, alpacas, deer, cattle and sheep. By cleaning up dead animals, condors help stop germs from spreading, and their bare heads stay clean while they feed.

Family life

Condors pair up for life and nest on hard-to-reach rock ledges, often between 3,000 and 5,000 metres high. They do not build a real nest: the female lays a single egg straight onto the rock, and the egg needs almost two months to hatch. The chick stays in the nest for six to ten months before it can fly. Young birds are greyish-brown and become adults at about six years old. Because a pair usually raises only one chick every other year, condor numbers recover very slowly.

Fun facts

It is the national bird of several Andean countries, including Chile, Colombia and Ecuador.
Andean condors are among the longest-living birds; one condor kept in captivity lived to at least 72 years.
Only male condors have a big fleshy comb on top of the head, and scientists can recognise individual males by its wrinkle patterns.
Males have yellow eyes, while females have red eyes.
Condors often perch with their wings spread wide in the sun to warm up and keep their feathers healthy.

On the globe

The model shows a huge black condor with a white neck ruff and very long wings, living in the Andes of Argentina. Zoom in to see how wide its wings are compared with its body.