Audublog

When the California Condor flew above Southern California

Photos from 1906 document a time when the California Condor soared over Los Angeles and Pasadena.

California Condor captured in flight in Eaton Canyon in 1906. Hand-tinted photograph. Photo: Finley and Bohlman/Audubon Society of Portland

While Los Angeles hosts a suprising number of bird species, one we don't often associate with the area is the California Condor, whose range now extends over mostly the central part of the state, and some parts of Arizona and Utah. But there was a time when the now endangered species called a much larger swath of California its home. And that included Los Angeles. The birds' presence in the Los Angeles area was document by biologists William Finley and Herman Bohlman, who conducted one of the first studies of the bird in the mountains above Eaton Canyon in 1906. While they were there, they took a number of photographs of the Los Angeles/Pasadena California Condors, which they tinted by hand. These photos document a time when the California Condor was in much greater numbers, flying free over California.

California Condor perching above Los Angeles. Hand-tinted photo. Photo: Finley and Bohlman/Audubon Society of Portland
An Adult and juvenile California Condor at the nest near Los Angeles. Hand-tined photograph. 1906. Photo: Finley and Bohlman/Audubon Society of Portland
California Condor chick near Eaton Canyon nest. Hand-tinted photograph from 1906. Photo: Finley and Bohlman/Audubon Society of Portland
California Condor wings over Eaton Canyon near Los Angeles. Hand-tinted photograph from 1906. Photo: Finley and Bohlman/Audubon Society of Portland
Adult California Condor near Los Angeles. Hand-tinted image from 1906. Photo: Finley and Bohlman/Audubon Society of Portland

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