The Peregrine Fund

08/25/2026

Looking Back: 2023 HPAI Outbreak

The California Condor Recovery Program in Arizona has 30 years of history behind it. But one of its most difficult chapters unfolded just a few years ago.

In March 2023, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) reached the Arizona–Utah flock. In just over a month, it claimed 21 California Condors and set recovery back a decade or more.

Outbreaks like this arrive without warning, and unlike some threats, they're largely beyond our control.

That's exactly why we focus so intently on the threats we can prevent. We may not be able to stop the next outbreak, but we can reduce preventable losses like lead poisoning, keeping the flock strong enough to withstand what we can't predict.

HPAI hasn't been detected in the flock since April 2023. Our team stays watchful, and recovery continues.

If you're just catching up, we're celebrating 30 years of California Condor recovery this year. Setbacks like this are part of the story, and all month we're revisiting the birds and milestones that made the program what it is.

Sick condor being transported 📷 Shawn Farry
Biologists rappel down a cliff to rescue a sick condor 📷 Jessy Wilson
Condor 593 deceased from HPAI 📷 Erin Brannon
Condor 593 before death 📷 Heather Morris
Avian Influenza vaccine 📷 Karine Aigner

08/24/2026

It's here. ‼️ This year's limited-edition California Condor Release shirt has landed. https://bit.ly/4cyzjgP

You've been asking, and we're glad to finally share it: our 2026 commemorative design, made to mark 30 years of condor releases at Vermilion Cliffs.

Every year, these shirts are one of the biggest ways our community rallies behind condor recovery, and this anniversary edition is special. Available as tees, long sleeves, and hoodies in a range of colors, every purchase goes directly to the California Condor Recovery Program, supporting the propagation, monitoring, and fieldwork that keep these birds in the sky.

They're only around for a limited time. Once the campaign closes on October 4, they're gone.

Support 30 years of Condors, and fund the next chapter. Order today: https://bit.ly/4cyzjgP

👕 Shirt artwork by Conrad Garner

(Please note: all orders will ship after the campaign closes on October 4.)

08/21/2026

📰 New Publication

The Gambia hosts one of Africa's highest densities of Hooded Vultures, and a new study published in African Zoology reveals that local communities hold mixed attitudes toward the species. While most respondents recognize vultures' ecological importance, negative beliefs tied to death and spirituality complicate conservation efforts. The research highlights the need for culturally sensitive education campaigns to protect these Critically Endangered birds.

Learn more at https://bit.ly/4wspQiw

📷 Evan Buechley

08/19/2026

The People of The Peregrine Fund: Msafiri Mgumba

In 2011, Msafiri Mgumba responded to the aftermath of a poisoned carcass in Tanzania—and what he found changed the course of his career. A lion was dead, along with her three cubs, a domestic dog, an African Fish-eagle, and vultures.

Today, Msafiri is Project Manager for our Southern Africa Program, working with communities across Tanzania to address human-carnivore conflict and protect vultures from retaliatory poisoning. From tagging birds to identify poisoning hotspots to training rangers to respond when it happens, his team is building a movement, one community at a time.

Watch to hear Msafiri's story, in his own words.

📽️ courtesy of Corinne Kendall; Darcy Ogada; Elbasri Abdelghani / Pixabay; DancingSky / Pixabay; Tham Nguyen / Pixabay
🎵 EVGENY / Pixabay

08/17/2026

Before young condors are ready for the wild, they have some growing up to do, and an older bird to learn from.

This last year, 14 California Condor eggs hatched at our captive breeding facility at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. Those nestlings have since grown into strong juvenile birds living in our captive breeding facility's Socialization Pen. They’ve been building their flight muscles, bonding, and learning proper condor etiquette.

Condors are very social animals, and some lessons can only come from another condor. That’s where a mentor bird comes in. Before this cohort is ready for release, they need to learn where it’s safe to perch at night, how to search for food, and how to behave correctly when feeding together at a carcass.

Our mentor bird this year is Penohpeyowonee (Condor 461). He is eighteen years old and has done a great job teaching the young cohort how to be wild condors. We are so thankful for mentor birds like him!

Photo of Penohpeyowonee (461) by Kelsey Tatton

08/14/2026

The struggle is real: we have thousands of jaw-dropping raptor photos and the algorithm only wants video. 📸 So here’s our attempt at fixing that, starring some of the most photogenic raptors on the planet. 🪶

American Kestrel 📷 Jim Shane
California Condor 📷 Matthew Danihel
Little Owl 📷 Julio Gallardo
Brown Snake-eagle 📷 Julio Gallardo
Laughing Falcon 📷 Julio Gallardo
Black-and-white Hawk-eagle 📷 Russell Thorstrom

08/11/2026

Some anniversaries trace back to a single day. Ours is December 12, 1996. The first California Condor release in Arizona

That afternoon, a crowd of 700 gathered at Vermilion Cliffs to witness history: six California Condors entering the wild of Arizona, establishing the Arizona–Utah population we manage today. The event drew Senator John McCain, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, and Arizona Governor Fife Symington.

The release of Condors 133, 136, 142, 149, 150, and 151 marked a turning point in the California Condor Recovery Program. Nearly 100 condors now fly free across Arizona and Utah. We still have a ways to go before the species is considered recovered, but every condor released into the wild is a step in the right direction.

Thirty years later, that tradition continues, and you can be part of it. On Saturday, September 26 (National Public Lands Day), we'll hold our annual California Condor Release at Vermilion Cliffs, alongside our partners at the Bureau of Land Management, releasing young condors into the wild. Come in person to meet our biologists and watch the birds take their first flight, or follow along on our YouTube livestream. Three decades on, you can see for yourself what that crowd experienced in 1996.

Photos courtesy of The Peregrine Fund:
📷 Arrival of the first 6 condors to Arizona
📷 Peregrine Fund biologist Brian Mutch traveling with the 6 condors to Arizona
📷 Wing tags of the first 6 condors released
📷 Peregrine Fund biologist Shawn Farry overlooking crowd
📷 Crowd gathers to watch the first condor release in Arizona
📷 Biologists watch from the ground as condors leave the release pen

08/10/2026

Puerto Rican Sharp-shinned Hawks just had their best season on record 🪶

Our field crews counted 50 individual hawks this year—the highest number since Hurricane Maria hit the population in 2017. Twelve nesting pairs were located, and 27 young hawks fledged into the wild, more than we've ever recorded.

One story, in particular, stands out. In 2024, our team rescued a nestling, Black 9/B, after her mother disappeared. We fostered her into a new nest, and she survived to fledge. This year, now an adult, she raised two of her own young—fiercely defending them from the same threats she once survived.

Read the full story: https://bit.ly/45OLrGO

2026 Season Photos 📷 Hana Weaver
Gavilan de Sierra de Puerto Rico

08/07/2026

08/06/2026

Last month covered the basics: who California Condors are and how they live. This month, we're telling the story of how they came back—the triumphs, the setbacks, and the individual birds who stand out. First up: our California Condor Propagation Program. 🪶

The history of our California Condor Propagation Program is almost as dynamic as the species we are working so hard to save. Our propagation program began in 1993 with a total of just 12 birds: 6 males & 6 females, which, at the time, was a significant amount of the world’s population. In 1996, we had our first successful captive-hatch, California Condor 150, who was later released into the wild. Since then, our propagation facility has successfully hatched over 340 California Condors!

Over the years we have learned more about these birds and how to best care for them from egg to adulthood. As we have adapted, so too have the designs for incubators, breeding chambers, and nest boxes. We also used to have to “puppet-rear” some condors when the situation called for humans to help raise the young. Fortunately, we now have a solid group of adult birds who parent their own nestlings or foster other young condors.

There have been many ups and downs in the last 33 years but the one thing that will never change is our passion and dedication to these birds and their conservation. We cannot do this alone! Thank you to all who strive to bring the California Condor back from the brink of extinction including other propagation facilities, field teams, state agencies, and countless partners.

Puppet-feeding a young condor in the early propagation program 📷 Mike Wallace / USFWS
Egg candling 📷 Kelsey Tatton
Incubator 📷 Kelsey Tatton