WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Gymnogyps californianus | California Condor 




GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Former range - California condors once ranged over much of western North
America, from British Columbia to northern Baja California and east to
Florida.  California condors nested in western Texas, Arizona, and New
Mexico until about 2,000 years ago.  Populations persisted in the
Pacific Coast region, especially in the Columbia Gorge area, until the
1800's, and in northern Baja California until the early 1930's [27].
Until 1985, when the last wild California condor was taken into
captivity, they were found in the Coastal Ranges of California from
Monterey and San Benito counties south to Ventura County, ranging, at
least occasionally, north to Santa Clara and San Mateo counties and east
to the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the Tehachapi Mountains.
Breeding sites were confined to the Los Padres National Forest in Santa
Barbara, Ventura, and extreme northern Los Angeles counties [3].

Current range - Currently all California condors that have been
reintroduced into the wild from the captive breeding program are located
in Santa Barbara County on the Los Padres National Forest [37]
and in and around Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.


ECOSYSTEMS : 
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES42 Annual grasslands


STATES : 


    
AZ
    
CA
    




BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    3  Southern Pacific Border


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K030  California oakwoods
   K033  Chaparral
   K035  Coastal sagebrush
   K048  California steppe


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
   245  Pacific ponderosa pine
   249  Canyon live oak
   250  Blue oak - foothills pine
   255  California coast live oak


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Most nest sites known to be active since 1979 have been in a narrow belt
of chaparral and coniferous forests.  Two nests were located in giant
sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) trees in mixed-conifer stands in the
Sierra Nevada [15,27].  Typical foraging sites are in grasslands or
oak savannah [27].

The principal plant species in nesting areas include several types of
ceanothus (Ceanothus spp.), live oaks (Quercus spp.), chamise
(Adenostoma fasciculatum), silktassel (Garrya spp.), and poison-oak
(Toxicodendron diversilobum).  Interspersed with the brush are small
groves of bigcone Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga macrocarpa) and small
openings dominated by annual grasses [34].

In the recent past, California condor foraging areas in the Coast
Ranges, the Tehachapi Mountains, and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada
included vast areas of open grassland dominated by introduced annual
grasses, particularly wild oats (Avena fatua) and cheatgrass (Bromus
tectorum) [34,40].  Some stretches were almost treeless; others had
scatterings of oaks and southern California walnut (Juglans californica)
[34].  Nonbreeding California condors also occupied mixed conifer stands
in the higher portions of the Transverse Ranges.  In the Sierra Nevada,
sites above 6,000 feet (1,800 m) were used for summer roosting [34].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Gymnogyps californianus | California Condor