Clackamas County, OR – The Oregon Zoo’s Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation has welcomed the first five California condor eggs of the year, marking a promising start to the 2026 breeding season.

Nicole LaGreco, who oversees the zoo’s condor recovery efforts, said: “We’re off to a great start, and looking forward to another successful season. With only around 560 California condors in the entire world, each egg is incredibly important.”

The first egg arrived on Jan. 26 from condors No. 544 and 189, a pair known as “early birds.” LaGreco explained that this pair has laid a January egg for three consecutive years.

The second egg came on Feb. 2, followed by three more on Feb. 4. Fourteen condor pairs currently live at the conservation center, most of which have successfully raised at least one chick before.

Keepers monitor the eggs using a process called candling, checking for fertility before placing fertile eggs in incubators. Parents sit on dummy eggs until hatching, which usually occurs in 54 to 58 days. In some cases, dummy eggs are withheld to encourage a second egg, a method known as “double clutching” that boosts population numbers and genetic diversity.

Chicks remain with their parents for at least eight months, then move to pre-release pens for about a year before joining wild condor populations in California and Arizona.

Once critically endangered, California condors numbered only 22 in the wild in 1982. Recovery programs like the Oregon Zoo’s have helped raise the total population to around 560 birds, most of which are now free-flying.

The Jonsson Center, located on rural Metro-owned land in Clackamas County, provides a remote environment that increases the survival chances of young condors. Support from Oregon Senators, the Avangrid Foundation, and the Oregon Zoo Foundation has enabled facility upgrades and ongoing conservation efforts.

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