Gallery of Wing Tags
Overview
This page displays a variety of wing tags to better familiarize you with the ways in which fonts, colors, and patterns can appear in photos. We have tried to gather examples from many different lighting conditions and angles, including photos that volunteers indicated were confusing on the Talk pages. We will continue to add to this gallery as volunteers comment on photos.
As you will see from the examples, the colors on the actual wing tags do not necessarily match the colors on the Condor Watch entry form.
Below are the most common wing tag colors you will see. On the bottom of the black tags, you can see the dots referred to on the classification page. For individuals that wear dotted tags, the number of dots indicates the hundreds digit of their ID number. Most of the dotted tags are black with white numbers.
Old wing tags used by Ventana Wildlife Society. Photo courtesy of VWS http://www.ventanaws.org/species_condors_fieldnotes/2011.htm
Black
Black tags are very common. They always have white numbers. They sometimes have dots or underlines. Only black tags have underlines.
Some examples of black tags are:
Black30, 3 dots
Black13, 3 dots
Black51
Black25Underline
Red
Red tags are common. They always have white numbers (this can be useful for distinguishing red tags from orange tags). A few red tags have dots.
Some examples of red tags are:
Red7
Red90
Another view of Red7
Orange
Orange tags are uncommon. They always have black numbers, and none has dots. They were only used at the Southern California release sites (we will do a future blog post on the different release sites and you will likely start to recognize each locale in photos).
The only orange wing tag numbers are:
- 21 (Bird=21)
- 56 (Bird=156)
- 63 (Bird=63)
- 79 (Bird=79)
- 98 (Bird=98)
Here are some examples:
Orange98
Orange63
Good contrast of red tag (left, Red61) and orange tag (right, Orange79)
White
White tags are common. They always have black numbers. In 2008, a few white tags had dots.
Some examples of white tags are:
Both visible tags are white (77 and 78)
White31
Yellow
Yellow tags are common. They always have black numbers. In 2006-2008, a few yellow tags had dots.
Some examples of yellow tags are:
Yellow6
Yellow62 (with Blue28)
Good contrast of Yellow (on left, 6) and White (on right, 49)
Good contrast of Yellow (on left, 16) and White (on right, 80)
Green
Green tags are extremely uncommon. In fact, for the dates of our photos, green only appeared in 2008 and only on one condor: condor 156. Her green tag had a 56 on it with 1 dot. Let us know if you see this tag and we will add it here!
Blue
Blue tags are somewhat uncommon. They are a bit confusing because they can have black or white numbers. In 2008, one blue tag had a dot (61).
The only blue wing tag numbers are:
- 11 (Bird=311), black or white numbers (has worn both tag types)
- 18 (Bird=318), white numbers [note this one was left off of earlier versions of the gallery)
- 26 (Bird=326), black numbers
- 28 (Bird=328), black numbers
- 60 (Bird=360)
- 61 (Bird=161)
- 64 (Bird=364), white numbers
- 65 (Bird = 365), black numbers
- 69 (Bird=369)
- 70 (Bird=370)
- 74 (Bird=374)
- 75 (Bird=375)
- 96 (Bird=596), white numbers
- 97 (Bird=397)
Here are some examples of blue tags:
Blue96
Blue11
Blue64, photo courtesy of Ventana Wildlife Society
Great example of the 2 different blue colors you might see: Blue28 on the far left and Blue96 on the far right (also visible are Purple4, Black60, and White80)
Bird on left has purple tag. Bird on right has blue tag
Purple
Purple tags are somewhat uncommon. They always have white numbers, and none has dots. They only appear on in 2012 and 2013 photos.
The only purple wing tag numbers are:
- 4 (Bird=604)
- 15 (Bird=615)
- 16 (Bird=616)
- 25 (Bird=625)
- 27 (Bird=627)
- 30 (Bird=630)
- 31 (Bird=631)
- 46 (Bird=646)
- 50 (Bird=650)
- 52 (Bird=652)
- 63 (Bird=663)
- 64 (Bird=664)
Here are some examples of purple tags:
Purple25
Purple4
Many at once
A wide range of wing tag colors can be seen in this photo:
A wide range of wing tag colors can be seen in this photo:
Yellow62, Orange63, Black99, Red47, Yellow14, and Purple30
Other
Finally, there are a very few oddball tags that don’t fit the normal pattern. One is the tag worn by 514 during part of 2010, which reads A4, but can look very much like 44 at certain angles. Here are some examples:
BlackA4
BlackA4
There is also a black underlined tag with V1 on it in 2008-2010, a white tag with 3FW on it in 2009, and a black tag with 2 huya on it in 2008-2009. Let us know if you see any of those!
Update: V1 has been found by eagle-eyed Condor Watcher miltonbosch. Kudos!
Condor Watch 
Green 2 is at Esalen at Big Sur today, 8/17/15 being harassed by seagulls. He is roosting in a tree on the property for the night. Has been here since about noon.
We were out on our property planting palm trees today. We saw a condor with a white tag with what we thought was #10? We were very excited to see this bird. It was flying around for a long time. I hoped it would come back so I could get a picture. It came so close as if wanting food. Riverside CA near Lake Matthews.
Exciting and interesting. We would love to see a photo if you get another chance. There isn’t a white 10 tag. The only white tags that might look a bit like a 10 are 80, worn by bird 480, a male who hatched in 2008 or 40, worn by bird 740, a male who hatched in 2014.
We were out on our property planting palm trees today. We saw a condor with a white tag with what we thought was #10? We were very excited to see this bird. It was flying around for a long time. I hoped it would come back so I could get a picture. It came so close as if wanting food. Riverside CA near Lake Matthews. 2/5/16
Lucky you! There is no white 10 so the ID of the bird you saw is a mystery. Perhaps white 80? Or Yellow 16 or 19 — in some lighting, yellow tags can look white. If you get another sighting and snap a photo, send it our way
I saw one on the Pacific Coast Highway yesterday with a yellow #8 tag. I wanted to get a picture so badly but traffic was heavy in a a construction area.
Nice! That’s 208, a female hatched in 1999 at the LA Zoo. She’s a breeder. Here is a profile:
http://www.mycondor.org/condorprofiles/condor208.html
Hello! My husband and I werected in AZ in Marble Cannon last week and we’re blessed with seeing a pair of condors #h9 and #54 ….mating pair? What an awesome site!!
How exciting! Our project is focused on the California population of California condors so we have more limited info on the Arizona population. However, surmising from the data we do have, you saw 354 (male, hatched 2004) and 496 (female, hatched 2008). Neither has bred yet as of 2015, but we lack info for the current season, so maybe. Or they may just be flockmates hanging out together. In any case, lucky you to see condors!
Thank you for your response! Is there a different place we should let know abouthat them?
Here are two websites with info on condors in the AZ flock
https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/nature/california-condors.htm
https://www.peregrinefund.org/condor-list
I’m not aware of sites soliciting condor sightings from the public, but you could email The Peregrine Fund (who manage the AZ program) or report here: https://www.facebook.com/CondorCliffs/?fref=ts
I came home today to 7 of these hanging out in my yard. Keene, California
Wish I would’ve known the tag numbers were important. I got pictures of some of them and can see the numbers. I thought they were turkey buzzards. Lol
Wish I could post the pictures here.
Post them on our Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/Condor-Watch-213592792168601/
Today we saw three individual birds form the vista just south of Big Creek. Red 68 (I think), Yellow 8 (mentioned above) and White 48.
Red 68 is male 168, hatched 1997 at the LA Zoo and released in 1999. He is rarely lead poisoned. He has been a breeder since 2007 and has produced 3 chicks and fostered 1 through 2013. His mate is yellow 8, female 208, hatched in 1999, also at the LA Zoo, and released in 2000. 168 has been her only mate and they reportedly have a “happy marriage” http://www.mycondor.org/condorprofiles/condor168.html. She is occasionally lead poisoned.
And white 48 is male 448, hatched 2007 at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise and released in 2008. He is not yet a breeder
Are all wing tags seen in the field the “Local ID” tag number as opposed to the studbook number? Some studbook numbers overlap with the Local ID numbers which are on different condors. Are the studbook numbers only used for bookkeeping?
Here in California, essentially all tags display the last 2 digits of the studbook number. The tag color (or for older tags, dots or underlining) indicate the hundreds digit.
Green tag 00
Purple tag 16
7-16-2016
Tehachapi ca
Green00 is a temporary tag on 599. Her normal tag is Black99. Purple16 is 616. Both are females hatched in 2011. 616 hatched in the wild while 599 hatched at the LAZoo, but is considered a wild hatched chick as well because she was placed back in her egg and into a wild nest at one day old. See fascinating story here: https://talk.condorwatch.org/#/boards/BCW0000007/discussions/DCW00004d9. The condor biologists were interested in this report.
Could you give a more specific location so USFWS can record it in their records? Thanks!
Do you know the tag # for Topa Topa? brought into the LA Zoo?
Yes! Topa Topa is #1. He still resides at the LA Zoo.
Here he is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J40izC_SC_M
I saw K5 today at about 5:00 in Laguna Woods at the wall that borders the wilderness area. I did take a picture.
Would love to see a photo. Can you post it to our Facebook page or message it to us there?
https://www.facebook.com/Condor-Watch-213592792168601/?fref=ts
WE were visited by a juvenile condor with a green tag # 74 10 a.m. in the Bear Valley Springs/Tehachapi area. Sept. 21, 2016. Where can I find information about this bird (#74)? We do have photos.
Great! This should be 774, a female hatched 3/30/2015, so not even 2 years old yet. She has almost made it through her time of lowest survival as she learns her environment and how to be a condor. Her father is 237 and her mother is 255
White #30 is in suburban Long Beach neighbor hood. 12 noon, Dec 3, 2016.
Cool to see a tagged scavenger. This is likely a turkey vulture. Condors are not known to occur this area and we don’t have a white #30 in our records. Do you have a photo?
We were at Pinnacles National Park on Monday afternoon, January 16th, 2017. We have a photo of a condor, Black tag #6 with a dot under it. Would love more info!
Great sighting! This would be 606, a male hatched in 2011 at the LA Zoo and released in 2013. He is not yet a breeder.
Saw green tag #6 in Pinnacles National Park yesterday. It flew down and perched literally only a couple feet away from my group and stayed for over twenty minutes. Amazing experience; we took tons of pictures.
Fantastic. That sounds like a pretty close and special encounter. Green 6 is 706, a male hatched in 2013 at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, and released in 2015. We would love to see and share a photo. If you are on Facebook, post to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Condor-Watch-213592792168601/ and we’ll share!
Apr 16 2017 Wife and I went to Marble Canyon today in hopes of seeing a Condor. When we got there the Peregrine Fund was set up with scopes and watching a cave with an egg. They had been there for a few days so knew the male was inside brooding. While we were watching he came into view and then proceeded to give us about a 20 minute flying display landing often on the bridge just below and on the other bridge to play with a feather. We hoped this meant she was returning as the same thing happened three days ago when they last shift changed. They had displayed affection then, rubbing together. Amazing experience. #54 who was seen there last may. Although I didn’t see her the PF people saw the female and would know her number.
That is a cool experience. We are focused on the California population here at CondorWatch, though we love all condors and condor sightings!
I believe I saw Yellow 32 (could have been 37) today above Caliente, California. The condor was very high in the air, but I did snap a picture. Coordinates of the spotting are 35.287113, -118.652600.
Great! That would be yellow 37, or 237, a male hatched in 2001
Yesterday Saw Black Tag 42 (no dots or underlines) At my fire Lookout tower. Would like to know more about this animal.
2 others were soaring in the area earlier, but never landed and tag couldnt be ID’d
I shared your post to our CW Facebook page with the following comment.
“Photo shared by Fire Lookout.
This handsome fellow, black 42, is 542, a male hatched in 2009 at World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise. He was released November 2010 at Bitter Creek NWR. He has not yet nested himself, and I do not believe he has a mate currently. His time is coming. Fortunately, to-date he appears to have had a relatively low incidence of lead poisoning to-date. Fingers crossed for much future success.”
Thanks for sharing!!
Green 40, was at our house 6/6/17 in Bear Valley Springs, CA. He was on top of our RV about an hour. Haven’t seen him since.
We’re in Hart Flat with at least 25 of these. Careful with your RV. They have destroyed a project boat of ours and started on the seats of our good boat before we could get it moved. They have also been tearing up a vacant house near us. They are very destructive and tear up everything. Seems like every time I go outside there are at 4 or 5 doing something they shouldn’t.
Thank you for the info. We’ll keep a closer eye on him if he comes back. Our RV has a cloth cover on it. He looked like he picked at it a couple times, but didn’t continue or poke a hole in it. That was the first and only time we’ve ever seen him.
My husband took pictures yesterday with a condor on the Tule River Indian Reservation. The bird had a green tag number 40 his fire crew figured it was injured and that’s why they got so close.
Could we have seen Condor 57?
In Glendora California on June 6 2017 at 9am. Condor 57 was sitting on top of telephone pole looking down at our 8 week old Golden retriever as a snack. Now to worry, we still have our dog and we haven’t see 57 since. The following is a link to our pictures
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4Swa00sbI-IdWJ4eXF5d3U2eWc?usp=sharing
That is actually a turkey vulture. They are very cool birds, and it is unusual to see one tagged. One way of distinguishing turkey vultures from California condors is that turkey vultures have very large nasal openings. Unlike most birds, including condors, turkey vultures have an excellent sense of smell and use it to locate carcasses. Condors search for food visually. Another distinguishing trait is size. Condors are much larger than turkey vultures (wingspan almost twice as great and weight about 4x heavier). Here are a few examples from our site of both species together
https://talk.condorwatch.org/#/subjects/ACW0003tup
https://talk.condorwatch.org/#/subjects/ACW0005mql
Saw condor which looked like a red tag with 66 and a dot above. Tagged only on left wing. Right wing tag missing. Also saw a juvenile fly over the same area. Parking lot 4 of Pfeiffer Big Sur State park Sept 6 2017. Seen by a group of British wildlife watchers
Having checked the photos this was Red 99
You saw 199! A male, hatched in 1999 at San Diego Wild Animal Park. He is a breeder who has successfully sired two chicks
On September 21, 1996 my wife and I were in the Castle Crags area of eastern San Luis Obispo County. Near the road’s summit we saw a condor standing on the side of a cliff with a yellow tag with the number 25 on it. He appeared to be a young condor and we were close enough to see him clearly, but not so close as to bother him. We had some handout material with us at the time that indicated #25 had been released the previous February, along with four others. I’ve always wondered about that bird and if he or she is still around. Do you have any information on him or her?
Thank you,
Norm Hammond
This would have been condor 125. He was hatched at the San Diego Wild Animal Park 6/2/1995 and released to the wild 2/13/1996, so not long before you saw him. He was young indeed then. He died recently — 7/18/2014 at the age of 18 due to suspected bobcat predation. He was one of the oldest condors in the wild and successfully fledged 4 chicks. You can read more about his life here: https://talk.condorwatch.org/#/boards/BCW0000004/discussions/DCW00002gf
I photographed 3 condors with wing tags on 10/20/17 at a southern Cal site where condors are regular. Should I report the data or send photos of the birds somewhere? An email address would be nice to have.
Green 99. West side of peak at Pinnacles. Sat roosting in pine tree for over 30 minutes before standing, turning around, stretching and taking off down into west valley.
I saw a large Black bird with a yellow tag in my neighbors yard today but i do not get the number, it was in the front yard and then flew up to perch on the roof.
It could have been a condor. Where are you located?
Camping at Pinnacles this week. Came across a flock of eleven Condors feeding. Only got seven number but three we’re green.
Here is the list of birds we saw:
67 Red
25 Beige
59 Black
0 green….we were told this was actually #60
42 Beige
73 Green
58 Green
78 Beige
I got some great pictures. Such an amazing encounter!
Wonderful sighting! Post a photo to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Condor-Watch-213592792168601/
June29,2018@11:20am
Great sighting! white tag#26 Bolsa chica (Huntington Beach),CA
I took some pictures.
Suspect this was a turkey vulture. Please do post some photos to our condor watch Facebook page so we can take a look. Would love to see them!
Hello! Saw a pair of condors about 30 miles from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon two days ago (between mile markers 587 and 588 coming out of Jacob’s Lake). One of the ones we photographed appears to be an immature, clearly marked “T6”. Wasn’t able to find it on the online database, but maybe I’m looking in the wrong place?
Yesterday saw 2 juvenile condors at Lee’s Ferry at cliff by Navajo bridge. One had a black tag with V9 with one dot above the V. The other no #. Can u she’d some info on this
Not sure if it’s one of your but sighted a bird with a red tag k25 . In Bridgeport WV at the landfill. Hope this helps!
Green 71 is up in Tehachapi eating a deceased cow. With 2 other condors. One had a green tag I couldn’t get a picture of.
At north rim grand canyon. Learned Condor sighting 23 mi. From park entrance. Saw bird #N8 in tree near deceased animal. Excited to get pic.
My son and I were riding an atv in the Hog Canyon area just north of Kanab, UT on March 8th and saw a condor with a black tag perched on a rock on the side of a cliff. Looked to be #05. We really enjoyed the sighting.
Hi!
Saw black tag 23 on the south rim of the Grand Canyon on June 3, 2020. Got lots of photos if you’re interested.
I saw green 26 yesterday at Pinnacles National Park.
Black and white VH tag seen on SR9 2 miles from east entrance of Zion about a week ago, have some great pictures!
We were in Zion NP in early Sept,2021 at Big Bend shuttle stop. We got at picture of a young condor. We believe it to be a black tag with a white number, Y3.
We also saw two other condors at this location. Unfortunately we couldn’t make out their tag numbers.
We were in Zion NP in early Sept,2021 at Big Bend shuttle stop. We got at picture of a young condor. We believe it to be a black tag with a white number, Y3.
We also saw two other condors at this location. Unfortunately we couldn’t make out their tag numbers.
Upon further inspection of our photos we think one tag was black with a white 6 or 9. The other tag was red or orange, number unidentifiable.
I seen a Condor with a green tag 87A in Downingtown, pa . There were four of them, only one had a tag . Please let me know what I seen. I do have a picture of the bird.
This is outside the condor’s range, which are found only in California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Baja Mexico. I suspect it was a turkey vulture or a black vulture. If you post a photo we can identify it for you. Thanks for checking in