California condors have a wingspan of about 9.5 feet.  Unlike birds of prey, condors do not have sharp talons capable of killing or grasping objects. 

Adult condors stand at 3 to 3.5 feet and weigh 17 to 25 pounds. Males are generally slightly larger than females. 

Males and females are similar in appearance. Adult condors have a mostly bald head and neck. The skin of the head and neck is colored in shades of pink, red, orange, yellow, and light blue, and becomes more intensely pinkish orange during times of excitement and during the breeding season. Feathers are mostly black except for white underwing linings. Juvenile birds have dusky black feathered heads and bodies with limited white underwing linings. At hatch, chicks have light pink and orange skin and are covered in off-white down which is quickly replaced by gray down. 

California condors use vast expanses of varying habitats for foraging, roosting, and nesting. Condors roost on large trees or snags, or on rocky outcrops and cliffs. Nests are located in caves and ledges of steep rocky terrain or in cavities and broken tops of old growth conifers created by fire or wind. Foraging habitat includes open grasslands, oak savanna foothills, and beaches adjacent to coastal mountains. With the right air conditions, condors are known to fly up to 250 miles a day across mountainous terrain in search of food. 

Condors do not kill for food; they are carrion eaters and feed on the carcasses of mammals including deer, marine mammals such as whales and seals, and cattle. A condor may eat up to 3 to 4 pounds of carrion at a time and may not need to feed again for several days. Condors find their food by sight or by following other scavenging birds. Condors normally feed in a group where a strict dominance hierarchy is followed. Dominant birds usually eat first and take the choicest parts of the carcass. 

The condor's beak is long, sharp, and powerful. It can pierce the hide of a horse. Condors use their beaks to tear the flesh from carcasses, and to touch, feel, and explore their surroundings. Condors have been observed using their beak to remove foliage from trees to create better roosting sites and manipulating rocks and other objects in caves to improve the nesting area. 

Bathing 

• Condors are fastidious birds; after eating they bathe in ponds or pools and will spend many hours preening and drying their feathers. If no water is available, they will clean their heads and necks by rubbing them on grass, rocks, or tree branches. 

Roosting 

• Condors spend most of their time perched, sunning and preening. Condors roost where they can easily launch themselves into flight with just a few wing beats. Roost sites include large trees, snags, cliffs, and rocky outcrops. Condors will often roost in groups and will return to the same roost sites year after year. Dominant birds often take the choice position in a group roost. 

Flight 

• California condors can soar on warm thermal updrafts for hours, reaching speeds of more than 55 miles per hour and altitudes of 15,000 feet. Flights in excess of 250 miles in a day have been recorded. Condors hold their wings in a horizontal position and fly very steadily, unlike turkey vultures which fly with their wings held in a V-shape and appear to be unsteady or "wobbly." 

Playing 

• Condors are highly intelligent, social birds. They are inquisitive and often engage in play, especially immature birds. They will entertain themselves at length with feathers, sticks, and grass, often playing tug-of-war, and tossing, chasing, and retrieving the objects. This activity is especially pronounced around water holes. 

Breeding 

• California condors reach sexual maturity when they are 5 to 7 years of age. The male condor repeatedly performs highly ritualized courtship displays to the female, standing with his wings partially held out, head down, and neck arched forward; he turns slowly around, rocking from side to side. Graceful acrobatic flights, where one partner follows the other, are also performed by the pair. Condor pairs stay together over successive seasons. However, if one partner is lost, a new partner will be sought. 

Nesting 

• Nests are usually placed in caves on the face of steep cliffs or trunks of broken old growth conifers such as coastal redwoods and historically giant sequoia trees. No nesting material is added. 

Eggs 

• The female lays a single pale aqua-colored egg, which initially weighs approximately 280 grams (10 ounces) and generally measures 110 x 67 mm (4.4 x 2.7 inches). If an egg is lost to breakage or predators early enough in the breeding season, the pair will often produce a replacement egg in 4 to 5 weeks, a practice known as "double clutching." 

Incubation 

• Parents alternate incubating the egg, each often staying with the egg for up to several days at a time. The egg hatches after 54 to 58 days of incubation. The parents share duties in feeding and brooding (warming) the chick. Chicks are fed partially digested food regurgitated from the adult's crop. Flight feathers are fully developed at about six months of age. The chick is dependent on its parents for one to two years as it learns to forage and feed on its own in the wild.