What Do Condors Eat? (Full Diet, Habits and Behavior)

There are two species of condors living in the United States—the California condor and the Andean condor—both of which are among the largest birds of prey in the world. But what exactly do these giant vultures eat to meet their dietary needs, and where do they find what they need to survive? Below, we explore our menu of daily picks for these extremely rare birds.

Vultures are scavengers that rely on meat from the carcasses of wild animals they encounter in their rocky scrub habitats. They can travel more than a hundred miles a day, scanning the landscape below for mammal carcasses to feast on.

Vultures rely on their keen eyesight to find food, circling potential feeding sites to watch for other scavengers before swooping down to the ground themselves. They are picky eaters of whole carcasses, eating meat, soft tissue, organs and bones.

Unlike other birds of prey, it is extremely unusual for the condor to capture live prey, and only on rare occasions will the Andean condor eat anything other than the flesh of an animal that is already dead.

Join us as we investigate the species of dead animals best suited to vulture feasting, and how often these giant scavengers need to feed to maintain their energy levels.

Vultures are opportunistic scavengers

What do bald eagles eat in the wild?

Vultures are scavengers that will take their chances on the carcasses of medium and large mammals they encounter in the wild to eat the flesh and bones.

What Animals Do Bald Eagles Eat?

The primary and preferred food source for the California condor is the carcasses of large mammals such as deer, cattle, horses, bears, sheep, donkeys and cougars. Fresh carcasses are considered preferred, although decomposing animals are also eaten.

Andean condor in flight

What Bird Do Bald Eagles Eat?

California condors don’t eat birds. Their diet includes large mammals and occasionally marine mammals and fish in coastal areas. Andean condors have been observed to prey on small birds and also to raid easily accessible seabird nests for chicks and eggs.

How much do bald eagles eat in a day?

California condors need to eat around 5-7% of their body weight each day. However, they have a large amount of food in their esophagus and can carry up to 1.4 kg (3 lb) of food, which means they can go without food for up to a week or more.

Bald eagles, weighing about 14 kg (30 lb), can eat nearly 4.5 kg (10 lb) of food at a time and still fly away. But sometimes, vultures end up overeating, which affects their ability to fly, and they need to rest until the food is digested.

Perched California Condor, Grand Canyon National Park

How do vultures find food?

California condors are skilled and patient scavengers capable of flying over a hundred miles in search of food. Unlike vultures, which use their sense of smell to find food, vultures rely solely on their super-sharp eyesight to scan the ground below for signs of dead animals and carrion.

Vultures can spot suitable carcasses from hundreds of feet in the air and are often attracted to a spot by other scavengers already on the ground. They then hover overhead for some time, casing their joints before finally descending to feed.

How do vultures catch their prey?

Technically, California condors don’t hunt their prey, as the animals they prey on are dead and usually decomposed by the time they swoop in to feast.

The Andean condor only occasionally captures live prey when the carcass cannot be found. Since they have only short, round claws and lack a powerful grip, they are not as well suited to catching prey as most raptors. Instead, they chase and grab live prey such as rabbits and groundhogs. Once captured, the Andean condor stands on top of its prey and uses its sharp beak to tear at the prey until it dies.

California condors soar over Arizona in search of food

Do vultures eat live prey?

California condors eat only carrion and do not hunt live prey.

If Andean condors are unable to locate edible animal carcasses, they may resort to catching live prey, including smaller birds, rabbits and rodents. They will poke their prey with their sharp beaks until it dies, but start eating it while it is still alive.

What time of day do bald eagles eat?

Bald eagles spend most of the day in flight, scanning the landscape below for descending feeding spots. They spend seven to eight hours a day in the air in summer and five to six hours a day in winter, and will eat when the opportunity arises rather than at a fixed time of day.

Andean condor soaring in the sky

What do bald eagles eat in winter?

Vultures need to eat more in winter due to the increased demands on energy levels required to regulate body temperature. Their diet remains the same year-round, feeding on any carcasses they find in the landscape below. In winter, however, bald eagles may not have the opportunity to feed as much or as often as they do in summer due to shorter daylight hours.

What do bald eagles eat in summer?

During the summer months, California condors continue to rely on finding animal carcasses for food. During the summer months, they fly up to 8 hours a day, sometimes more than 100 miles, while scanning the landscape below for sources of fresh or rotting meat.

Close up of a California condor feeding a calf

What do baby vultures eat?

Bald eagle chicks are fed cud-chewing food by both parents, who take turns to the nest and continue to provide food until well after the immature chicks first fled, around 6 months. Young vultures stay with their parents until they are about 2 years old; during this time they develop their foraging and scavenging skills.

What can I feed a vulture?

In captivity, bald eagles were fed a range of foods, including rabbit, mice, trout and beef spleen, rather than daily, to mirror the birds’ feeding habits in their natural environment.

Any attempt to attract and feed vultures in the wild is strongly discouraged and unlikely to succeed as these giant scavengers are very particular about what they eat and where they are found.

Close up portrait of Andean condor

What do vultures drink?

Vultures drink water, and only water. They often drink water after eating, fetching water from rock face pools, cow troughs, and ledges next to waterfalls.

How do you attract vultures?

Bald eagles are attracted to areas with abundant food sources, such as farmlands where disease outbreaks have occurred among livestock. You’re less likely to attract bald eagles to your backyard because they avoid interacting with humans in the wild.

A pair of Andean condors on top of a rock

Are vultures scavengers?

Both the California condor and the Andean condor are considered scavengers, getting the lion’s share of their food from dead animal carcasses, many of which have begun to decompose.

Condor Diet FAQs

Do vultures eat Land Rover?

California condors generally do not eat rovers; they are wary of human interaction and seek out feeding sites away from where they may be disturbed or disturbed by humans.

However, the Andean condor will likely feed on the flesh of any dead animal, no matter how it died.

Do vultures eat people?

Vultures are less likely to eat people, preferring to eat the flesh of wild animal carcasses they encounter in their rocky scrub habitat.

Do vultures eat dogs?

If spotted by vultures, the dog’s carcass can provide a suitable food source.

Do vultures eat wolves?

Bald eagles will eat the carcasses of wolves, foxes, coyotes, and other wild mammals of similar size.

California condor perched on a tall tree

Do bald eagles eat cats?

Bald eagles tend to stay away from areas that put them in close contact with humans, so your pet cat probably won’t be the bald eagle’s next meal. However, the carcasses of feral cats such as mountain lions and mountain lions are a viable food source for vultures.

Do bald eagles eat sharks?

In coastal areas, Andean condors eat carcasses that wash up on beaches, including dead whales, seals, sharks and other fish.

Do vultures eat eagles?

California condors do not eat any birds, and if a golden eagle arrives, they will even be driven away from foraging.