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Condor N8 seen in New Mexico

Birder finds rare bird in Los Alamos
Franz Carver photographed this California condor south of Dolores on April 16. The bird was spotted this weekend in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Wayward California condor N8, photographed near Cortez on April 16, has turned up in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

According to the Sante Fe New Mexican newspaper, Los Alamos birder Joe Fitzgibbon saw the bird in his backyard April 24.

Fitzgibbon saw the radio transmitter and the bird’s “N8” tag and recognized it as the condor spotted south of Dolores by bird-enthusiast Franz Carver.

In February, Grand Canyon National Park officials lost track of the condor and feared it was dead.

At one time, condors flew across much of North America, but by 1982, only 22 captive condors survived, according to The Peregrine Fund, which tracks and monitors the birds. Now, there are an estimated 400 in the wild or in captivity; about 70 are in the Grand Canyon area.

N8 was hatched in captivity in the San Diego Wild Animal Park and released into the wild in February.

Chris Parish, of The Peregrine Fund, told The Cortez Journal last week that young birds, such as 2-year-old N8, often wander in the spring when winds can take them long distances.



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