Condor Court exhibit opens at National Aviary
Ongoing
Condor Court exhibit
Four massive Andean Condors have a new home at the National Aviary, one designed to provide an excellent habitat for breeding and give visitors a unique and intimate view of this endangered species.
Lurch, Precious, Handsome and Lianni, as the birds are named, are enjoying the exhibit’s features, which mimic this species’ native habitat in the Andes Mountains. Condor Court features a 20-foot high rock façade, nesting caves, bathing pools, up-close viewing and a conservation station similar to field research stations used by National Aviary researchers in the Andes Mountains.
“The National Aviary is now the only accredited zoo in North America exhibiting two pairs of Andean Condors as well as managing them for breeding,” says National Aviary Managing Director Cheryl Tracy. “The decline of these birds in Ecuador has been steady and dramatic, and the National Aviary is proud to be playing a key role in international efforts to protect them. We are working with our partners in Ecuador to establish a reintroduction program so that chicks hatched at the National Aviary can be released into the wild.” Less than 50 Andean Condors remain in the wild in Ecuador. With a wingspan of 10 feet, Andean Condors are one of the largest raptors in the world.
Other birds exhibited in Condor Court include a Bald Eagle, a pair of Pygmy Falcons (one of the world’s smallest birds of prey), and two Cabot’s Tragopan, a type of pheasant found in south-east China.
Condor Court is open to the public during operating hours, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.
For more information, visit www.aviary.org.