Adults can be recognized at once by their broad straight wings, dark plumage, and light patch at base or primaries. Juveniles look very like juvenile Ornate Hawk-Eagles, but the latter has strongly barred wing linings and flanks, and a different shape. Andean Condor All of these eagles, even the Harpy, are dwarfed by the worlds largest bird of prey, Ecuador's national bird, the Andean Condor. This bird has a wing spread of ten feet and can weigh 25 pounds, making it one of the largest of all flying birds. Adults are black with white panels on the upper surface of their wings, a fluffy white collar, and pinkish head.
Juveniles are solid brown.
In Ecuador it lives mostly in high remote mountains, near timberline and above. It usually nests on rocky cliffs, and may gather together to roost in groups on particular cliff faces. It feeds on carrion. There is also usually an established dominance order among the condors themselves. Although biologists tend to dismiss the idea, the local Quichua people believe that condors kill young animals.