Rare Double Clutch Brings Zoo’s Condor Egg Count To 13

The Oregon Zoo’s Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation welcomed several more California condor eggs last month, bringing the current total to a lucky number 13. The most recent egg was the second laid by condor No. 174 this year, a rare occurrence known as a double clutch. “It’s very exciting,” said Kelli Walker, who oversees the zoo’s condor recovery efforts. “Condors typically lay only one egg a year, and with only about 500 of these endangered birds in the world, every egg counts.” In certain cases, Walker noted, keepers remove an egg from the nest box early in the season, thus encouraging a particular condor to lay a second time. That process has helped increase condor numbers and improve genetic diversity in the population since the recovery program began. But this egg was a surprise. “Condor 174 double-clutched herself,” Walker said. “It’s pretty unheard of.” Since mid-January, condors at the Jonsson Center have been laying the groundwork for species recovery one egg at