One Hatchling, A Vaccine, and Hope for the Future

The Feathered Desert Podcast

Summary: Join Cheryl and Kiersten for a true story of love and struggle in the time of the bird flu.

For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

Show Notes:

“Special Delivery,” by Zoe Grueskin, Audubon Magazine Fall 2023, pages 20-27

Transcript:

Cheryl Intro:

The Arizona’s flock of southwest condors is about 115 birds. These birds roost and roam from the Grand Canyon to Zion National Park. Each bird has a number and most have GPS or a radio tracker so that they may be found if injured or otherwise in need. The spring of 2023 the avian influenza hit the state’s flock of condors killing 21 of these iconic, endangered species. (We have a podcast highlighting the California Condor that was carefully researched by Kiersten, so we are not going to go into the detail descriptions or other details about this bird.) We are going to move forward with our story.

Kiersten:

One of the condors lost this past spring was 316. A 20-year-old female who had succumbed to the avian influenza shortly after laying her egg on a high cliff edge. The egg was being cared for by her mate 680, a 10-year-old male. The odds were against this young male of successfully hatching let alone raising his offspring to young adulthood, especially since the space it inhabited was probably infected with the virus, and biologists didn’t know if the chick inside the egg had the avian flu. So, to save the life of the young male 680, conservation biologists climbed that very high cliff and carefully collected the egg.

Cheryl:

Once the gg was safely transported down off the cliff’s edge it was taken Liberty Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. The clinic staff typically treat a couple of condors a year, usually for lead poisoning. Veterinary staff had little hope for 316’s chick at first. It had been three weeks since 316 had perished, and 680 had been incubating the egg alone. Usually, parents alternate egg sitting duties to maintain a consistent warm temperature for the egg, and to keep each parent healthy. So, the veterinary staff “candled” the egg, illuminating the contents with a bright light. They were looking for blood vessels, or an embryo-any signs of life. What appeared in the rosy glow of the egg’s interior was an embryo that was moving.

Kiersten:

Now, caring for an unhatched chick is round-the-clock work, an all-hands-on deck operation. Condor’s egg is about the size of a soft ball, and was too big for the clinic’s brooder, which will mechanically mimic how adult birds shift their eggs in the nest. Instead, staff gently rotated it four times a day and carefully monitored its development. In May, the chick started hatching but it was pipping at the end of the egg -not the center-the avian version of a breech baby. To survive its eggshell birth, the bird needed assistance. So, using surgical pliers pieces of the shell were carefully, and quickly removed to free the tiny condor. The hatchling was alive, but its fate was uncertain since it was not known if it was infected with the flu. If infected with the flu the chick could not be transferred to the captive breeding facility, a critical step if this chick was to be released into the wild one day. If it had the flu the baby condor would be dead within a week.

Cheryl:

Avian flu has been around for centuries, but in recent decades the virus has evolved to become lethal to wild birds as well as domesticated poultry. A mild version, called low pathogenic avian influenza, is present year-around in some species, particularly in waterfowl, and typically doesn’t cause serious illness. But the virus can travel through waste, infect farmed birds, and mutate into a more aggressive form. The highly pathogenic avian flu, called H5N1, can pass back to wild ducks, geese, and swans, which can carry the virus across oceans and over thousands of miles as they migrate. The last major outbreak in the US 2014-2015, causing the deaths of more than 50 million domestic chickens and turkeys along with a few dozen wild birds, mostly geese before it died out.

Kiersten:

The avian flu that is circulating since 2021 causes severe neurological and respiratory issues and has affected more that 400 bird species in 81 countries. In the Untied States alone, it is responsible for a record 58 million domestic poultry deaths, and FWS has confirmed or suspected avian flu in more than 33,000 wild birds. the virus has killed raptors and swans, ravens and egrets, hundreds of seabirds, and thousands of ducks. This flu has called mammals too such as raccoons, black bears, other meat eaters.

Trying to contain a virus is a formidable challenge-even more so when it is carried by organisms that can fly. It has really impacted conservation and conservationists. There was alarm when Arizona’s condors started getting sick. Condors are in such imperil that they have some advantages that helped them to weather this flu. There are five wild flocks of condors that are intentionally separated by hundreds of miles or more as a safety measure to help ensure that a single disaster or threat doesn’t knock down every group. Each individual bird is monitored, and condors are used to being handled by humans, since the wild birds are trapped annually for health checks. This created an opportunity where there normally would not be one.

Cheryl:

FWS officials briefly discussed bringing every wild condor into captivity as they did 40 years ago, but they opted not to after weighing the daunting logistics, the possible danger from concentrating the entire species during an outbreak, and the fact that the virus was so far restricted to the southwest flock. Instead, biologists watched the birds very closely for signs of illness and tightened biosecurity measures, such s not providing food and water for wild condors. By the time 316’s chick hatched, the tide of death had ebbed.

FWS officials began planning to provide a more dramatic intervention: by vaccinating every single condor against the virus. Now, all condors were vaccinated against West Nile virus in the early 2000’s. So, officials proceeded with caution by first vaccinating a test group of 16 Black Vultures. Black vultures are relative with strong populations, to make sure it is safe and to ensure there was a good immune response. The trial was a success, and this past summer 16 captive condors were vaccinated. Next, will be to vaccinate all the wild condors before the flu picks up again.

Kiersten:

What happened to our little miracle condor chick?? Well, the female chick tested negative for the avian flu. She was transferred to Boise, Idaho, where she was placed with her adoptive parents. Her adoptive parents will raise her to be a condor so she will thrive in the wild. The little condor chick, who is number 1221, will stay with her adoptive family for 7 months then she will join the rest of 2023’s captive-hatched chicks for condor school. A mentor bird will teach the youngsters to strengthen their flight muscles, to eat communally, and to navigate social hierarchy. Then the young condors will be released into the wild in their second summer.

Cheryl: Closing

Where condors are released is determined mainly by each bird’s DNA. Biologists carefully consider which population is the best fit to maintain genetic diversity- which is a crucial concern in a species with so few individuals. For reasons, biologists don’t fully understand males outnumber females making our miracle chick even more important to the story. So, our heroine #1221 may be able to return to her wild roots in the southwest, and play a key role in rebuilding her battered flock.