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California condors having 'banner year' on the Central Coast

Pinnacles National Park

The endangered California condor is having its best spring to date with at least 16 active nests identified statewide by biologists.

More than a third of those nests are within Pinnacles National Park in Monterey County, the park stated on its Facebook page. 

The range of the condor is big, including much of the Western United States and even a portion of Mexico. But, the endangered birds seem to be doing especially well along the Central Coast this year at Pinnacles.

"Each year more and more condors are becoming old enough to breed and so we see more and more nests each year," said Alacia Welch, Condor Project Manager at Pinnacles. "This year, so far,  does look to be like it's going to be a banner year."

Welch said that lead from ammunition remains the number one threat to the recovering species, but new state rules are helping. 

Lead ammunition will be entirely banned in the state by July of 2019.