In a 2013 to 2018 study near Bariloche, Argentina, eight condors flapped for only 1.3 percent of their recorded flight time. In the Bariloche study, more than three quarters of all the flapping the condors did was linked to takeoffs, when a heavy bird must get off the ground. One condor in the study flew for more than 5 hours without flapping, covering about 172 kilometers (107 miles). Condors use the rising warm air that spirals up off cliff faces to soar for hours.

Among birds of prey, the Andean condor has the longest wingspan. Its wings stretch up to about 3.2 meters (10.5 feet) from tip to tip. Studies of adults of the species give weights of 8 to 11 kilograms for females and 11 to 15 kilograms for males.

The largest soaring birds alive today weigh up to almost 16 kilograms, but an extinct bird of Argentina, Argentavis, is estimated to have weighed about 72 kilograms or more.

Andean condors mostly eat the dead bodies of large animals, such as deer, cows and sheep. They are mainly scavengers, but they have been seen taking some live prey such as marmots, birds and rabbits.

An Andean condor's beak is hooked at the end and tears meat from a carcass. An Andean condor can eat more than 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) of meat at one meal, and it may be unable to fly after such a large meal.

Condors that eat dead animals help reduce diseases such as anthrax and botulism.

The Andean condor was declared extinct in Venezuela in the late 1960s, and only 30 to 60 birds were thought to survive in Colombia in the 1980s. The 1989 Colombian reintroduction began with five male Andean condor chicks raised under the same method as California condors, and a plan to return condors to their native Colombian home. As of November 2026, the IUCN Red List lists the Andean condor as Vulnerable, which means it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

Andean condors are thought to mate for life. They do not build nests, and the female lays one egg. The parents keep it warm for about two months before the chick hatches. Both parents care for the chick for a year or more, and a young condor needs six years or more to become an adult. Nobody knows how long wild condors really live; the best estimate is about 50 years.

Words to know

• takeoffs: leaving the ground
• reintroduction: return to wild
• Vulnerable: at high risk
• scavengers: eaters of carrion
• carcass: dead animal