To assist in the recovery of condors, a captive breeding program was established in 1981 to provide captive-reared condors to release to the wild. No birds have bred yet in the wild. Because of deaths from contact with power lines, condors started undergoing power line aversion training in 1995 before their release. The California Condor is a member of the Cathartidae family or new world vultures.
Adults are black except for white underwing linings and edges of the upper secondary coverts.
Males and females cannot be distinguished by size or plumage characteristics. Condors do not kill for food but feed on available carrion. With the extinction of the large Pleistocene Era mammals, condors declined in range and numbers. Another large decline occurred when European settlers arrived on the West Coast, and accelerated during the gold rush of 1849. Condors were wantonly shot and poisoned, and eggs and adults were collected.