An Andean condor barely flaps its wings. Instead, it rides on warm air that rises up the mountainsides, like a surfer on a wave. Once it has caught a rising current of air, it can glide for hundreds of kilometres without flapping once. That saves an enormous amount of energy.
Condors have bald heads and necks. That isn't because they got too hot - it is because they are scavengers, which means they eat animals that have already died. A bald head is easier to keep clean. Bald skin can also change colour when the condor is excited.
Andean condors only have one or two chicks every few years. Both parents look after the chick for over a year, teaching it to fly. Young condors stay with their families longer than almost any other bird.
Condors are very important in the stories of many people who live in the Andes. In some traditions, the condor is seen as a messenger between the mountains and the sky. Communities in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina all share stories about this giant bird.

