Under Wing
By Alex Wilson 07/03/2008
The biggest birds soaring over North America will receive more help recovering from the brink of extinction thanks to the creation of a new Ventura County charity.
Friends of the California Condors, Wild and Free is almost ready to launch. They’ve settled on a name and are now seeking nonprofit tax status.
Some of their volunteers have been working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for many years to help with their ambitious condor recovery program, and hope to soon expand their mission.
They’ll be involved in several ways like monitoring nests, tracking condors and educating the public. Volunteer Mike Havstad says they’ll run booths at street fairs and other events that government officials have a hard time committing to.
“Fish and Wildlife is strapped for money right now. They get requests all the time to run informational booths about condors,” says Havstad. “Then they’ll get a call that there’s a bird in trouble, and the next thing you know they’re all up on the hill taking care of a sick bird.”
Volunteers will also help follow the condors’ movements.
“People will go out and look for the birds, then report back to headquarters about what bird they saw or heard, and where it’s located,” says Havstad.
They’ll also use binoculars to check on the health of the condors.
The Fish and Wildlife Service’s Ventura Office Clerk Ivett Plascencia is helping organize the charity and says volunteers play a crucial role in the condor program.
“It’s very important especially during the nesting season. We have a lot of volunteers who come and help us observe our nests,” says Plascencia. “They basically make sure that the chicks are OK and they’re actually trained to take down notes.”
Volunteers feel a sense of accomplishment knowing they’re helping the birds return to the wild after the last survivors were placed in a captive breeding program during the 1980s.
“I think they get a lot of satisfaction,” says Plascencia. “A lot of them are really into birding, and the California condor is a high-profile species, so they know they’re helping an endangered species.”
She says it also gives people an opportunity to enjoy the mountains north of Fillmore where the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge is set aside for the birds.
“They have an opportunity to go where people don’t go too often,” says Plascencia. “Some of our volunteers are pretty young, and it’s good that they’re exposed to being outdoors instead of sitting in front of a PlayStation or computer.”
Volunteers meet once a month at the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Ventura office, and people who want to help or donate money can call (805) 644-5185.
Havstad says condors are special creatures that are alert, inquisitive and extremely graceful in the air. He says there’s nothing quite like seeing one in the wild.
“I’ve had one fly overhead when I was in a truck, and I saw it’s shadow cross the dirt road and completely cover the road and beyond. It was like a small jet went over. The biologist I was with and I both said at the same time ‘condor,’ and it was like magic,” says Havstad. “The bird is immense, 9 1/2 feet of wingspread, 25 pounds of bird, and when it flies, if you’re lucky you can hear a flutter in the wings.”
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