Editing Condor (section)

==Behavior==
{{Further|Andean condor#Ecology and behavior|California condor#Ecology and behavior}}
Sexual maturity and breeding behavior do not appear in the condor until 5 or 6 years of age. Condors are monogamous creatures and will mate for life. They may live for 50 years or more and the world's oldest condor died at 100 in the [[Jardin d'Essai du Hamma]] in [[Algiers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/4416.html |title=The world's oldest condor dies |publisher=Ennahar Online |date=2010-07-28 |access-date=2014-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605053251/http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/4416.html |archive-date=2014-06-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Condors nest with one chick at a time, laying one egg every year to year and a half. Due to their size, condors require lots of care and nutrition very early on in their chick stage.<ref name=":1" />

These birds tend to be more social than other birds of prey. They often clump in smaller groups and socialize and rest together. They will often revisit the same locations for daily activities and seasonal roosts. 

The young are covered with a grayish down until they are almost as large as their parents. They can fly after six months but continue to roost and hunt with their parents until age two, when they are displaced by a new clutch. There is a well-developed social structure within large groups of condors; a recent study showed the '[[Dominance hierarchy|pecking order]]' is determined by age group and, within age groups, by sex (which contradicts previous findings).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Handler |first=Ian |date=2018 |title=Andean condor nesting and behavior: A study of a free-living pair and chick as well as population behavior near Antisana Ecological Reserve, Ecuador |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/232740742.pdf |journal=SIT Digital Collections |pages=18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Donázar |first1=José A. |last2=Travaini |first2=Alejandro |last3=Ceballos |first3=Olga |last4=Rodríguez |first4=Alejandro |last5=Delibes |first5=Miguel |last6=Hiraldo |first6=Fernando |date=1999-01-01 |title=Effects of sex-associated competitive asymmetries on foraging group structure and despotic distribution in Andean condors |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s002650050539 |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |language=en |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=55–65 |doi=10.1007/s002650050539 |bibcode=1999BEcoS..45...55D |hdl=10261/39777 |s2cid=24420560 |issn=1432-0762|hdl-access=free }}</ref>

The lack of a large sternum to anchor correspondingly large flight muscles identifies it physiologically as a primary soarer. The birds flap their wings on rising from the ground, but after attaining a moderate elevation, they seem to sail on the air, transiting from one upstream to the next, often without flapping their wings. One Andean condor was recording maintaining such flight for {{Convert|106|mi|km|order=flip|sp=us}}, for over five hours.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dvorsky |first=George |date=July 14, 2020 |title=Andean Condor Soared for 100 Miles Without Flapping Its Wings |url=https://gizmodo.com/andean-condor-soared-for-100-miles-without-flapping-its-1844380679 |access-date=2022-05-18 |work=Gizmodo |language=en-us}}</ref> Because of their size, these birds tend to rely on strong [[Thermal current|thermal currents]] to propel them higher into wind currents. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Andean Condor |url=https://abcbirds.org/bird/andean-condor/ |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=American Bird Conservancy |language=en}}</ref>

Wild condors inhabit large territories, often traveling {{convert|250|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}} a day in search of carrion. With such a large wingspan these birds can sometimes can get by with one single wing flap over an hour.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Andean Condor |url=https://lazoo.org/explore-your-zoo/our-animals/birds/andean-condor/#:~:text=IUCN%20Red%20List-,About,hour%20while%20soaring%20and%20surveying. |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens |language=en-US}}</ref> They prefer large carcasses, such as deer or cattle, which they spot by looking for other [[Scavenger|scavengers]]. However, these rival species cannot rip through the tougher hides of these larger animals with the efficiency of a larger condor. In the wild, they are intermittent eaters, often going for a few days without eating, then gorging themselves on several kilograms (pounds) at once, sometimes to the point of being unable to lift off the ground.{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}}