Vultur gryphus = Andean Condor
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The Andean Condor is a species of South American bird in the New World
vulture family Cathartidea, it has the largest wingspan (as much as 10 ft).
than of all land birds.
Condor Natural History
It is a large black
vulture with a ruff of white feathers surrounding the base of the neck.
The head and neck are
nearly featherless, and are a dull red color, which may flush and therefore
change color in response to the bird’s emotional state.
The condor is primarily a
scavenger, feeding on carrion. It prefers large carcasses (deer/cattle).
It is one of the world’s
longest-living birds, with an average lifespan of 50 years.
It reaches sexual maturity
at five or six years of age and nests at elevations of up to 5,000 m (= 16,000
ft), generally on inaccessible rock ledges.
The head and neck are kept
meticulously clean by rubbing on the sand and their baldness is an adaptation
for hygiene; this lack of feathers prevents bacteria
from the carrion it
eats from ruining its feathers and exposes the skin to the sterilizing effects
of the sun.
The skin of the head and
neck is capable of flushing noticeably in response to emotional state, which
serves to communicate between individuals.
The middle toe is greatly
elongated, and the hind one is only slightly developed, while the talons of all
the toes are comparatively straight and blunt. The feet
are thus more adapted
to walking, and are of little use as weapons or organs of prehension as in
birds of prey and Old World vultures.
The beak is hooked, and
adapted to tear rotting meat.
The condor soars with its wings held
horizontally and its primary feathers bent upwards at the tips. It flaps its
wings on rising from the ground, but after
attaining a moderate
elevation it flaps its wings very rarely, relying on thermals to stay aloft.
It prefers to roost on
high places from which it can launch without major wing-flapping effort. Andean
Condors are often seen soaring near rock cliffs, using
the heat thermals to
aid them in rising in the air.
Like other New World vultures,
the Andean Condor has the unusual habit ofurohodrosis; it often empties it’s
cloaca onto its legs and feet for cooling effect
through evaporation.
They locate carrion by
spotting it or by following other scavengers, such as corvids or other
vultures.
The condor is invariably
dominant among the scavengers in its range.
Andean Condors are
intermittent eaters in the wild, often going for a few days without eating,
then gorging themselves on several pounds at once, sometimes
to the point of being
unable to lift off the ground. Because its feet and talons are not adapted to
grasping, it must feed while on the ground.
Sexual maturity and
breeding behavior appear after five or six years of age.
During courtship displays,
the skin of the male’s neck flushes, changing from dull red to bright yellow,
and inflates. Other courtship rituals include hissing
and clucking while
hopping with wings partially spread, and dancing.
It deposits one or two
bluish-white eggs, every second year. If the chick or egg is lost or removed,
another egg is laid to take its place.
Healthy adults have no
natural predators, but large birds of prey and mammalian predators, may take
eggs or hatchlings.
There is a well developed
social structure within large groups of condors, with competition to determine
a ‘pecking order’ by body language, competitive
play behavior, and
vocalizations.
The Chicks can’t fly until
they are 6 months old and then rely on their parents for two more years.
The older condors get to
eat first, and then the younger ones take turns in order of age.
DD.: Old World vultures:
New World vultures have a
good sense of smell, but Old World vultures find carcasses exclusively by
sight.
No New World vulture
possesses a syrinx, the vocal organ of birds; therefore the voice is limited to
infrequent grunts and hisses.
An unusual characteristic of
the species in genus Cathartes is a highly developed sense of smell, which they
use to find carrion. They locate carrion by
detecting the scent of
ethyl mercaptan, a gas produced by the bodies of decaying animals.
Other species, such as the
American Black Vulture and the King Vulture, have weak senses of smell and find
food only by sight, sometimes by following
Cathartes vultures and
other scavengers.
Central issue:
The central theme is
soaring associated with themes of flight, flying and floating sensations.
(Soaring is specific to vulture)
The feeling was that of
feeling calm, centered, peaceful and content while flying. (The vulture is
vulnerable on the ground.)
Phoenix rising from the
ashes. (The phoenix is a bird that through purification is disintegrating and
rises from its ashes transformed and changed.)
Probably Leprosy miasm
Correlation with Nature:
A. Death, Transformation, Rebirth, “Phoenix”
Vultures have eyes for death. They purify the environment of death and
infection by eating carrion, which is then transformed through the ”fire” of
the bird’s powerful digestion into new life.
Feeling trapped in my own physical body with all of its needs and
drives.
A sense of revulsion at my own shit, and at the
odors associated with bodily decay, age, sickness, and death. In the past, when
I worked as a hospital nurse,
this caused me tremendous guilt and
mortification.
Dreams with a theme of
death and the beyond.
A total lunar eclipse; emerging
strongly from the proving was the theme of immersion into darkness, and like
the mythological ”phoenix”, rebirth through
magical transformation
from the ashes of loss and death.
Decaying while still being
alive, knowing others are just waiting for you to die. A hidden anger
Falling into the circle of
life and death brings one into time, while one’s natural state is to be
disembodied, detached, alone, and outside this circle.
There was a sense that she
had lost a sense of solidity, a feeling of being fully present on earth…as if
disembodied.
Dreams of zombies…..people
who are empty inside, alive but vacant, just not there.
I’m not fully in my body.
I exist in a kind of dead zone. Where I open with all kind of energies
What is dead in people,
what they need to do to move on…
B. Family, Care and Nourishment
There is a well developed social structure within large groups of
condors, with a very well organized ‘pecking order’ …eg. The older condors get to
eat first, and then the younger ones take turns in order of age.
Strong aspect….feeling of
love, forgiveness, and gratitude (opposite–detached, estranged, alone)
Alone with no help or
support
Nourishment and food (fear
of not getting enough)
C. Andean Condor as a Raptor
Vultures are so different than the other Raptors. Firstly, they feed on
carrion, so they have much less competition and aggression. Power, strength,
domination are missing here, and you can see it share, following issues with
other Raptors…
Issues around my vision
and eyes; my inability to fuse the images from each of my eyes seemed to
reflect my own sense of inner division and split.
My nature as a solitary
traveller who treasures his freedom and own intuition; I dislike and look down
on restriction by rules, boundaries, conventions, and
habits of thought.
An unbalanced, up-in the
air…..constant swaying as she spun back and forth in her swivel chair.
Wanting to get grounded
and find balance in a life
DD.: with Cathartes aura:
The Andean condor and
Turkey vulture shares common theme of death, clearing, but Cathartes have also
letting go and purification and detoxification.
Would be have boils, Sepsis., pus while Vult-g would be having itching
cath. Focuses on the polarity of releasing something toxic that was hitherto
blocked. Vult-g holds within it the theme of
sacrifice, collective guilt and shame, and tremendous self-judgment. Vult-g has
its great size, a theme of gentle
giant, great gentleness in all the energy.
One theme strongly appearing in Cathartes while absent in
Vulture-gryphus…
Invisible
Unacknowledged
Being the invisible,
unrecognized
Acting as the unseen
force, or being susceptible to and/or a victim of unseen force
Vergleich: Siehe: Aves + Greifvoegel
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