With an wingspan of up to 8 to 10 feet, the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is one of the biggest and unfortunately still one of the most endangered birds on the North American continent. You'll find them soaring above thermal updrafts of up to 10,000 ft in the rocky shrublands and oak savannas of the Southwestern US, from California, Arizona and Baja California in Mexico searching for fresh carrion. Their bald heads prevent them catching disease and by eating carrion, they're preventing disease from spreading into the ecosystem as they're the clean-up crew of the ecosystem. By the 1980s, wild populations dwindled to just 22 individuals, pushing the species to the brink of extinction, though fortunately dedicated captive breeding programs began in the 1980s, rivalling one of the most intensive efforts to recover an endangered species. One of the most insidious and persistent threats has been lead poisoning. Condors are scavengers, and many of the carcasses they consume contain fragments of lead ammunition. This ingestion of toxic lead has had a devastating impact on their health. Because the condor’s breeding rate is naturally very low—with pairs producing just one egg every couple of years—even small increases in adult mortality from lead poisoning can have a disproportionately large effect on the overall population.