今年西南地区破天荒地孵出了许多小秃鹰

今年西南地区破天荒地孵出了许多小秃鹰

The condor may be to California what the bald eagle is to America: a high-flying symbol of strength and independence — with a bit of a weird streak.

秃鹰之于加州，可能就像秃鹰之于美国一样：象征着力量和独立——带着一点怪异的条纹。

Biologists captured this 'precious' photo of a condor nest just north of Angels Landing at Zion National Park after scaling a nearby cliff. (Photo: National Park Service)

But for a while, it seemed this breathtaking bird would fade forever into the California sunset.

但有一段时间，这只令人惊叹的鸟似乎将永远消失在加州的夕阳中。

By 1982, the ravages of hunting, habitat encroachment and lead poisoning had reduced their numbers to a mere 22. That spelled the end of independence for these raptors. Five years later, the last of their kind were living in the Peregrine Fund's captive breeding program.

到1982年，由于狩猎、栖息地侵蚀和铅中毒的破坏，它们的数量已经减少到只有22只。这意味着这些迅猛龙的独立结束了。五年后，他们的最后一个品种生活在Peregrine基金的圈养繁殖计划中。

It was a necessary measure — and, ultimately, a successful one. There are four wild population areas of condors, according to the National Park Service: Baja California, Mexico; Central California; Southern California; and Southwestern U.S. Now, the population has reached more than 500 individuals, with 312 of them living in the wild. A species that had once called much of North America home has begun to spread its wings again.

这是一个必要的措施，最终也是一个成功的措施。根据国家公园管理局的数据，秃鹰共有四个野生栖息地:墨西哥的下加利福尼亚;加州中部;加州南部;现在在美国西南部，它们的数量已经超过500只，其中312只生活在野外。一个曾经将北美大部分地区称为家的物种已经开始再次展开翅膀。

Now in 2019, the Grand Canyon National Park documented the fifth wild-hatched California condor chick in October, making it a record number of chicks in the Southwest for a year.

在2019年10月，大峡谷国家公园记录了第五只野生孵化的加利福尼亚秃鹰雏鸟，这是西南地区一年来雏鸟数量的记录。

The nestling, identified as Number 1005, is estimated to have hatched on May 9 from a mating pair with stud numbers 423 at O'Neill Butte, the park announced in a news release.

公园在新闻发布会上宣布，这只编号为1005的雏鸟，据估计是5月9日在奥尼尔布特从一对编号为423的配种中孵化出来的。

"We knew that the parents were exhibiting nesting behavior, and it took us a few months to locate it," said Wildlife Biologist Miranda Terwilliger, Grand Canyon's condor project manager. "One of our long time volunteers Bob George, known as Condor Bob, found the nest and chick."

大峡谷秃鹰项目经理、野生生物学家米兰达·特威利格说:“我们知道这对父母表现出了筑巢行为，我们花了几个月的时间才找到它们。”“我们的一位长期志愿者鲍勃·乔治，人称秃鹰鲍勃，找到了鸟巢和小鸡。”

Secretive parents

神秘的父母

Condors are the hermits of the bird kingdom, often nesting on solitary peaks. (Photo: National Park Service)

Indeed, biologists had to sleuth out their presence, often casing their rocky and remote neighborhoods for signs of new family members.

事实上，生物学家不得不探查它们的存在，经常在它们多岩石的偏远地区寻找新家庭成员的迹象。

Ultimately, a condor couple — designated 409 and 523 — gave themselves away when they started taking turns leaving the nest for food.

最后，一对编号为409和523的秃鹰夫妇在开始轮流离巢觅食时，暴露了自己。

In the end, scientists had to scale a cliff across from the family's cave to finally get photographic proof that baby 1,000 was officially in the world.

最后，科学家们不得不爬过家族洞穴对面的悬崖，最终获得1000个婴儿出生的照片证据。

With their numbers surging beyond 500, the California condor has come a long way since the early 1980s. (Photo: National Park Service)

And the baby designated 1,001? That squeaking bundle of feathers has already been confirmed, born to parents bred in captivity at the Grand Canyon.

孩子的出生数是1001 ?这群小羽毛发出的吱吱声已经得到了证实，它们是在大峡谷人工饲养的父母所生。

Still, it isn't all blue skies for the California condor. Classified as critically endangered on IUCN's Red List, these raptors rely on dedicated conservation efforts.

不过，加州秃鹰的天空并不总是一片蔚蓝。这些迅猛龙被列为世界自然保护联盟红色名单上的极度濒危物种，它们依靠的是专门的保护措施。

"After over two decades of efforts to restore condors to the southwest, it is nice to take a moment to reflect on the steady and slow progress made and thank those who have contributed so much, like Zion National Park, to see this effort through," Chris Parish, conservation director for The Peregrine Fund noted in a press release. "We have a long way to go, but today we celebrate this milestone."

”经过两年的努力恢复秃鹰的西南部,是很高兴花点时间反思的稳定和缓慢进展,感谢那些贡献了那么多,像锡安国家公园,看到这一努力,”克里斯•教区保护主任游隼基金在一份新闻稿中指出。“我们还有很长的路要走，但今天我们庆祝这一里程碑。”