Ventana Wildlife Society (VWS), in collaboration with Pinnacles National Park, monitors a population of 94 critically-endangered California Condors in central California. Determining causes of condor mortality by recovering dead or injured condors from the wild remains a top management priority. To track condor movements, each bird carries a VHF radio transmitter, while only approximately 30% of the flock is also equipped with more costly GPS transmitters. Since 2014, VWS has partnered with volunteer pilot group LightHawk to locate missing condors using aerial telemetry. When sick, condors self-isolate from the flock in remote areas, which complicates tracking and rescue efforts. To quickly locate these birds, LightHawk’s pilots have conducted 42 aerial surveys to date, contributing 119 total pilot hours. These flights enable biologists to recover condors that otherwise would have remained missing, providing invaluable data on condor mortality and allowing birds to receive life-saving care. Pilots also provide critical detection data when natural disasters like wildfire and severe rainfall prevent access to management sites. As the condor population continues to expand, requiring more efficient monitoring, aerial telemetry becomes an increasingly important tool to monitor this wide-ranging species.

Danaé fell in love with Condors when she began working at Pinnacles National Park in 2019, and joined VWS as a Biologist in October 2021. She began her wildlife career working with carnivores in Arizona and Idaho, and became fascinated by birds after spending a season bird banding in Nova Scotia, Canada. Since then, she has been involved in several endangered species monitoring projects including Snail Kites and Northern Spotted Owls.