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Hierarchical dominance structure in reintroduced California condors: correlates, consequences, and dynamics

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Abstract

Populations of reintroduced California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) develop complex social structures and dynamics to maintain stable group cohesion, and birds that do not successfully integrate into group hierarchies have highly impaired survivability. Consequently, improved understanding of condor socioecology is needed to inform conservation management strategies. We report on the dominance structure of free-ranging condors and identify the causes and consequences of rank in condor populations by matching social status with the behavioral and physical correlates of individual birds. We characterized the hierarchical social structure of wild condor populations as mildly linear, despotic, and dynamic. Condor social groups were not egalitarian and dominance hierarchies regulated competitive access to food resources. Absence of kin-based social groups also indicated that condor social structure is individualistic. Agonistic interactions among condors were strongly unidirectional, but the overall linearity and steepness of their hierarchies was low. Although one aggressive male maintained the highest dominance rank across the 3-year observation period, there was considerable fluidity in social status among condors within middle and lower rank orders. Older condors were more dominant than younger birds and younger males supplanted older females over time to achieve higher status. Dominance rank did not predict the amount of time that a bird spent feeding at a carcass or the frequency that a bird was interrupted while feeding. Thus, younger, less dominant birds are able to obtain sufficient nutrition in wild social populations.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge and thank the following funding agencies, collaborators, staff, assistants, and partner organizations: United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Instituto Nacional de Ecologia (INE), Comision Nacional Para El Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Wildcoast/Costasalvaje, The Los Angeles Zoo, Sempra Energy, Mohammed Saad, Jeff Zuba, Lisa Nordstrom, Kristin Duncan, Alan Lieberman, Katika Bade.

Ethical standards

This research was approved by the San Diego Zoo IACUC animal welfare committee (Project ID#11-014) and the Instituto Nacional de Ecología, México.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, Escondido, CA, USA

    James K. Sheppard, Michael P. Wallace & Ronald R. Swaisgood

  2. University of California San Diego/San Diego State University, Escondido, CA, USA

    Matthew Walenski

  3. WildCoast/CostaSalvaje, Ensenada, Mexico

    Juan J. Vargas Velazco & Catalina Porras

  4. Applied Animal Ecology Division, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA, 92027-7000, USA

    James K. Sheppard, Matthew Walenski, Michael P. Wallace, Juan J. Vargas Velazco, Catalina Porras & Ronald R. Swaisgood

Authors
  1. James K. Sheppard
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  2. Matthew Walenski
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  3. Michael P. Wallace
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  4. Juan J. Vargas Velazco
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  5. Catalina Porras
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  6. Ronald R. Swaisgood
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Correspondence to James K. Sheppard.

Additional information

Communicated by C. R. Brown

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Sheppard, J.K., Walenski, M., Wallace, M.P. et al. Hierarchical dominance structure in reintroduced California condors: correlates, consequences, and dynamics. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 67, 1227–1238 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-013-1550-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-013-1550-5

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