There’s a Flock of Endangered California Condors Currently Vibing on This Woman’s Patio

Who knew more than a dozen of these rare New World vultures could collectively cause such a mess

3 min readMay 6, 2021

Though their numbers are recovering, there are only an estimated 160left in the world. Around 15 of them are presently making a mess of Cinda Mickols’ back patio.“I’ve seen condors periodically over the last ten years, but never like this before and never in these numbers,” the mother of two says to The Bold Italic over an email. Her daughter, Seana Lyn, has been effectively live-tweeting the nature drama — one we’d give a limb to have David Attenborough narrate at some point — since Monday.

The tagged birds, which represent the largest land bird in North America (with wingspans of more than 9 feet and weighing up to 20 pounds), have been living their best O Magazine-approved lives on Mickols’s property since May 3. They’ve taken a particular interest in her spa covers and railings; a dead tree located on the lower part of her 6-acre property, however, has now seen condors come and go for well over a month.

But this recent deluge of engaged avian fauna wasn’t only swift, it’s virtually unheard of.

“I’ve counted 13 condors in my pictures, but there were more on the roof and deck that weren’t in those snaps,” she writes. “I’d estimate there are between 15 and 20 condors. It’s absolutely crazy, I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this.”

Her son, Chris, sent his mother more information about condor spotter, which is a program that helps people identify condors by their colorful tags, to better understand the birds. Chris has used the tool to identify previous birds that have roosted at the property; Mickols notes that Chris was at her house last year when there were three condors in her backyard; he was able to accurately identify them, via the program.

Though Mickols, herself, doesn’t have names for the birds, many of them are named in the condor spotter program. Despite the disarray this flock of vultures has created — ripping through seat cushions, damaging her roof, producing an inconceivable quantity of bird droppings — she still loves the nature that surrounds her property.

Yes: even these unintentionally destructive condors

“I love where I live and that I get to see elk, deer, bobcats, birds, and all that stuff on my property frequently,” she tells us in closing. “I’ve just never had this kind of damage done by any wildlife, and I have never seen this many condors in one location at the same time!”

There’s a Flock of Endangered California Condors Currently Vibing on This Woman’s Patio

Who knew more than a dozen of these rare New World vultures could collectively cause such a mess

Written by Ldrdjemli