National Parks Traveler

Condor V9 over the Colorado River at the Navajo Bridge/Patrick Cone

Condors Over The Colorado

By Kurt Repanshek

It was as if they were waiting for us. Almost as soon as we set foot on the historic Navajo Bridge at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, the condors took to the air, stretching their massive wings to catch a ride on the afternoon thermals.

First one, then two, then four of the California condors that once numbered just 27 in the wild were soaring over the Colorado River down below and then seemingly strafing us, with two soaring perhaps 10 feet overhead.

While condor numbers in the wild are increasing, the big birds are far from being downlisted from their current status as an endangered species. Still, as Contributing Editor Kim O'Connell noted earlier this year, the increase in numbers—and especially the successful hatching and fledgling of a wild condor chick in Zion National Park in 2019 — has conservationists hopeful that the species’ long-term prospects are improving.

R8 gliding overhead/Patrick Cone

Two condors soar low over the Navajo bridges/Kurt Repanshek

Leading the effort is the Peregrine Fund, a nonprofit conservation organization that is headquartered at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, and operates a condor facility at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona. Once birds arrive there from breeding facilities, they are tagged and prepared for release into the canyon country that stretches from northern Arizona into southern Utah.

If you have a chance to spot these birds in the wild and can make out the tags on their wings, there's a website you can visit to learn a little history of the birds you saw. For instance, R8 is a male that was hatched on April 29, 2015, and let free in September 2017. V9 is a female born in April 2017 and released in October 2018.

As we stood on the historic Navajo Bridge in late April, we were mesmerized by these incredible birds as they let the warm day's thermals carry them high above the Colorado River, before turning to dive towards us on the bridge. As they passed just overhead, we could hear the wind rustling through their features.

It was a good day, both to be a condor and to be a human watching them.

The wider, modern Navajo Bridge on the right replaced the historic one on the left, which is now a pedestrian bridge/NPS

The two bridges can be found on Highway 89A between Bitter Springs and Jacob Lake, Arizona. On the west side of the historic bridge you'll find a seasonal visitor center and bookstore. On the Navajo Nation (east) side of the bridge, there is an area for Native American craft vendors.