The Flight of the Condor
The condor is one of several animals with a name that comes from a Native American language-- "condor" comes from the Quechua (Inca) name for the bird, cuntur. Condors are considered sacred animals by many Native American cultures, particularly California Indian tribes and the Andean tribes of South America.
The bird is a divine symbol of fertility and people believed that by moving its enormous wings, the bird could gather clouds producing rain, the best fertilizer for the land.
The California condor feeds on carrion, which is the carcasses of dead animals. They do not hunt live prey in any fashion. Condors prefer to feed on carcasses of large mammals. Some of their favorite foods are deer, sheep, goats, pigs, donkeys, horses, bears, cattle, and cougars. California condors have also been recorded feeding on rabbits, marine mammals, and fish.
The Importance of Scavengers
Imagine a world where all your garbage simply piled up in your home … that’s a world without scavengers! Without vultures and condors cleaning up carcasses, decaying animals would become a health hazard. Decomposing animals become infested with bacteria, and these bacteria would be deadly to other animals that come in contact with them.
Vultures and condors are immune to the various diseases and bacteria that a carcass would otherwise spread; botulism, rabies, anthrax, and cholera are all eliminated safely. Unfortunately, these condors are not immune to human-introduced toxins, and many vulture species are inadvertently poisoned by human activity.