Its range is from Venezuela to Patagonia. Their habitat is mountainous, where air currents are normally prevalent. They are very efficient in their use of thermals, and glide over many hundreds of miles in search of food. Their diet consists of dead animals which they locate by sight. Only rarely do they kill an animal and in fact their claws are strong but not as sharp as other birds of prey so they are not really adapted to kill prey.
Condors have heads that are bare of feathers.
This is an adaptation for feeding on carcasses. On Andean condors the bare skin of the head is red or blackish red. There is a large, comb-like fleshy caruncle on the head, loose folds of skin on the side of the neck, and a two inch pendant wattle. The overall color is glossy black with some white on the wings and a snowy-white neck ruff. Males have grey eyes and females red.