The Lost Condor: Man finds rare Grand Canyon bird near Cortez

By Shannon Livick

The Cortez Journal

A California condor “missing and feared dead” from near Grand Canyon National Park, was found Thursday by seasonal park ranger Franz Carver.

Carver, who drives around looking for birds on his days off, spotted the California condor on Thursday, April 16, in the Summit Ridge area, south of Dolores.

At first, he thought it was a common bird.

“I saw this bird and thought it was a turkey vulture, but thought that it was too big,” Carver said.

So Carver, who describes himself as an amateur photographer who loves birds, stopped to take some photographs.

“I probably took 15 to 20 shots,” he said. “I thanked the bird for being so cooperative.”

It wasn’t until he downloaded the photographs that he saw a tag that read “N8” on the bird’s wing. 

“Then I knew it was a condor,” he said.

Carver quickly did some research and found a list of birds on the Grand Canyon National Park’s website.

It turns out that N8, also known as bird 680, is a 2-year-old male. The park listed him as “missing and feared dead” in February.

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