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Californian Condor
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Californian Condor
This is a request for assistence.
Background to the research
Before they became extremely rare, California Condors (Gymnogyps
californianus) were regularly collected as specimens for museums and
private collections. Over 200 specimens are now known to be in
existence, most of them acquired between 1850 and 1920. As might be
expected, most are now found in museums in the United States, but at
least 35 are distributed in collections elsewhere in the world.
![st[1].gallen.JPG](st[1].gallen.JPG)
St Gallen's Californian Condor.
As was the custom of the times, many California condor specimens were
originally prepared by taxidermists as live mounts. In the interest of
saving space and better preservation, most have now been relaxed and
converted to study skins. Because most taxidermists were lucky to work
on one or two condors in their lifetime, and because there were few
early condor photographs available to help taxidermists prepare lifelike
specimens, some of the specimens have been correctly described as
"poorly prepared," "under-stuffed," and "indifferent work." However,
there are still some very fine mounts that have survived. In most cases,
the taxidermists who prepared the individual specimens are not known.
Most were prepared by the resident taxidermists in the larger museums
and in businesses like Ward's Natural History Establishment. One
well-known private taxidermist, Thomas Shooter of Los Angeles,
California, is known to have prepared at least five California condors.
Joseph Cullingford, noted taxidermist of Durham, England, received a
California condor to mount in 1903, but the location of that specimen is
unknown.
![Paris009[1].JPG](Paris009[1].JPG)
Paris's Californian Condor.
![Geneva3[1].jpg](Geneva3[1].jpg)
Geneva's Californian Condor.
![Geneva2[1].JPG](Geneva2[1].JPG)
Geneva's Californian Condor.
Condor's skull.
Condor's dated 1925 in dioramas.
Condor's dated 1925 in dioramas.
Sanford Wilbur, an ornithologist and historian (Gresham, Oregon, U. S.
A.), has been compiling information on California condors since 1970. He
is currently writing a history of the condor specimens, including
information on how and when each specimen was secured. The study also
includes biographies of collectors, taxidermists, agents, and others who
were prominent in building the store of condor specimens. He is eager to
receive any information on the present location or history of California
condor specimens (including live mounts, study skins, eggs, and
skeletons), particularly those in smaller museums and private
collections that he may have missed in his survey.
![Stockholm_0047[1].JPG](Stockholm_0047[1].JPG)
Stockholm's Californian Condor.
Condor diorama.
Condor from unknown source.
Joseph Cullingford and a Californian Condor 1901-03. Clearly Cullinford had an international reputation for producing quality mounts. The whereabouts of this particular bird is not currently known.
Robert Ridgway of the U. S. National Museum
had asked Edward B. Towne of Massachusetts for a California condor skin
that could be mounted for display at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in
Buffalo, New York. Towne sent the specimen, but Ridgway found what he
thought was a better condor to mount. In 1903 the Towne bird was sent to
"Mr. Cullingford, The Museum, Durham." I assume it was preserved
somewhere, but I have no further information on it. Several of the
California condor specimens at the Natural History Museum (Tring) do not
have collection or preparation data. It might be one of them, but maybe not.
Chain of custody documentation 1901-03 for the Californian Condor, sent to Cullingford.
Chain of custody documentation 1901-03 for the Californian Condor, sent to Cullingford.
Chain of custody documentation 1901-03 for the Californian Condor, sent to Cullingford.
I have found a number of California condor mounts and specimens in
Europe, but currently all the UK specimens I know about are at Tring. If
you know of specific locations, I would very much like to add them to my
list. To date, I can account for some 300 California condor specimens
(mostly study skins, but some taxidermy mounts) worldwide, most of them
collected between 1875 and 1920. There are some earlier mounts, like the
ones in Paris that date to the 1850s.
If you have any information pertinent to this research then please contact us and we will pass on the information. Many thanks.
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