California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) Adult vs. Juvenile Coloring

Since these two condors - #726 "Little Stinker" and #823 "Kaleesi" are perched and not really doing much of anything, I figured a comparison of adult (#726) versus juvenile (#823) plumage and coloration might be helpful (or maybe just more interesting than condors looking like still photographs). I used to say that once you've seen a condor you won't mistake them for turkey vultures (or black vultures for that matter) but I don't anymore because it is easy to confuse them especially when there are many tiny distant blackish specks in the sky. Of course, when they're in flight, the white triangular wing undersides are a dead giveaway, but on a recent trip to Pinnacles National Park, on a chilly morning when all of the sudden there were seven or eight or ten large birds of prey soaring over high peaks, I was unsure exactly what collection of ornithological wonders I was viewing - especially since I'd seen condors and turkey vultures and a golden eagle all within minutes of each other...and probably at the same time. "Little Stinker" and "Khaleesi" are both females and only a couple of years apart, but "Little Stinker" has fully come into her adult plumage whereas "Khaleesi" is still in drab brown juvenile garb and therefore looks much more like a juvenile turkey vulture (adult turkey vultures have almost cherry-red heads...and black vultures have black heads as juveniles and adults, but their beaks and heads are markedly distinct from both turkey vultures and condors). On this day, when I arrived in the chill of morning and trudged back down the High Peaks trail just as the sun was setting, I saw at least six or seven distinct condors, though I didn't even realize that until I had a chance to view my photos/video full size and notice that there were numbers on tags I'd never seen before. For as bad as any and all of my footage is, having a camera that can zoom in more than my binoculars opens up a whole world I didn't even suspect was there. The audio track is a portion of Maurice Ravel's "Miriors III: Une Barque Sur L ' Ocean" performed by Felipe Sarro and obtained from musopen.org.

Видео California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) Adult vs. Juvenile Coloring канала yawnthensnore