The California Condor nest cam resides within the 80 acre Ventana Big Sur Coastal Sanctuary in Central California. The Ventana Wildlife Society has partnered up with the Bay Area’s award-winning Oakland Zoo to bring these rare birds into the public eye. The California Condor Recovery Program currently has approximately 70 condors in Central California with the wild poplualtion reaching up to 240. The California Condor was on the extinction list in the 1980’s and has since made a comeback with the success of captive breeding programs created by the San Diego and Los Angeles Zoos. Condors were then released into Southern California in 1992 and in Arizona near the Grand Canyon in 1996. In 1997 the Ventana Wildlife Society began releasing condors in Monterey on the Big Sur Coast.

In early February, the oldest condor pair, King Pin (#167) and his mate, Redwood Queen (#190), laid an egg, the first of the 2018 season. The last time this pair nested was in 2015 when we watched them raise Princess (#799) before a world-wide audience on our live streaming nest cam, a first for condors. Click here to watch the live California Condor nest cam!