Gioca STEMAnimals

Animals · Mountains and high places

Andean condor

Vultur gryphus

Ten feet of wings across the Andes

An Andean condor gliding high over the mountain peaks, showing its bright white wing patches clearly.
An Andean condor gliding high over the mountain peaks, showing its bright white wing patches clearly.
  • Status: Threatened
  • Andes, from Colombia to Tierra del Fuego, on rocky cliffs

Numbers

Weight
23 lbfrom 20 to 26 lb, the source material does not distinguish males and females
Length
51 inmaximum length indicated by the source material
Lifespan
50 yearsup to 50 years in the wild
Wingspan
10,5 ftmaximum value, range starts from 10 feet, second only to the albatross
Single meal size
50 percent of its weightfollowed by fasts of several weeks
Male crest
4 inabout 4 inches long and 1.75 inches thick, absent in females

Ten fun facts

  1. the wingspan of ten feet six inches is second only to the albatross, but the Andean condor is much heavier.

  2. it can eat up to fifty percent of its body weight at one time, then fast for several weeks.

  3. its flight is static soaring, using warm rising thermal currents to stay aloft while spending very little energy.

  4. males carry a large fleshy crest on their bare heads that is about four inches long and nearly two inches thick.

  5. males and females can be distinguished by eye color, which is pale brown in males and reddish in females.

  6. its talons are weak compared to birds of prey because it does not need to catch or kill live animals.

  7. it lays only one egg per cycle starting around December, and incubation lasts for a full two months.

  8. the chick remains in the nest for at least six months and depends on its parents even after learning to fly.

  9. the collar of soft feathers at the base of its neck turns white only starting in its fourth year of life.

  10. it was hunted almost to extinction because people thought it killed livestock, but it actually feeds only on dead animals.

The quiz answers

The first one is the question printed in your book: here is the answer. The other four are extra.

Question 1 of 5★ this one is in your book

How large is the wingspan of the Andean condor?

Question 2 of 5

What does it mainly feed on?

Question 3 of 5

How much food can it ingest in a single meal?

Question 4 of 5

How many eggs does it usually lay?

Question 5 of 5

At what age does it reach its adult appearance?

Try it yourself

Experiment 1

Lay out ten feet of string on the floor to represent the maximum wingspan. Ask your friends to lie down in a row to cover it.

Experiment 2

Calculate half of your weight to find out how much food an Andean condor can swallow in a single meal before fasting for weeks.

Experiment 3

Drop a feather above a warm radiator and watch it rise. Warm rising air is the exact force that keeps the Andean condor soaring.

Data from Wikidata (Q170598) and Wikipedia (Andean condor).