Imagine coming home to a gang of animals wrecking your deck.
That’s exactly what happened in a quiet town in the Californian mountains. And wind turbines were to blame.
These weren’t stray dogs, bears, elk, or mountain lions. They were critically endangered condors, and they started targeting every piece of plastic in sight.
What sent these huge birds into demolition mode?
And what does the bizarre behavior have to do with the new wind farms on the nearby ridges?
How California condors came down from the peaks to go rogue
Cinda Mickols of Tehachapi got a huge shock when she arrived home to find it in the process of being vandalized. But it wasn’t humans doing the damage.
Her home had been overtaken by condors, one of the largest species of bird. Their wingspans can reach almost 10 feet, and they stand up to 4.5 intimidating feet tall.
There were 15 to 20 of them sitting on her fence, roof, and custom wood railings. The scene was odd enough, but their behavior was even stranger.
Looking like invaders from a prehistoric era, the flock was working hard at trashing Cinda’s property.
They tore into her hot tub cover, shredded her seat cushions, knocked over pot plants, and shattered lawn ornaments. Worse was to come.
The condors covered the newly redone deck with foul droppings with a consistency like concrete.
Mickols tried to scare them away by shouting and clapping, even spraying them with a garden hose. But the birds simply parked in the trees nearby. They watched and waited.
What did the condors find so offensive about plastic?
And what does the green energy infrastructure have to do with their sudden arrival?
‘Anti-blight birbs’: The condors ended up trending
The internet thought the deck-wrecking birds were hilarious.
They dubbed them ‘anti-blight birbs’ and joked about smashing plastic lawn ornaments being a public service.
But conservationists didn’t find anything to laugh about. The behavior was a breathtaking anomaly. This many condors in one backyard represented around 10% of the state’s entire wild population.
The species are critically endangered, so there’s not much Cinda could do to clear them from her land.
Wildlife officials are clear that no aggressive measures may be taken against the condors. Allowing condors to get comfortable around humans is dangerous for their survival. They advise loud noise from a safe distance.
It’s the birds’ behavior that baffled conservationists. They are meat scavengers, but there was no carcass in sight. Just bits of broken plastic, rubber, and vinyl.
What was driving the condors from the mountains to take out their curiosity on human products?
Mysterious vandalism explained: Microclimates, youth, and curiosity
The wind turbines on the ridges around Tehachapi create powerful, altered wind and thermal updrafts.
These invisible upward currents of warm air allow giant condors to soar across the landscape for miles. They rarely have to flap their wings. The energy conservation benefits are attractive.
These renewable energy structures generate ideal micro-habitats, so the gliding birds are naturally drawn toward the town’s mountain ridges.
Their natural biology takes over when they end up in human neighborhoods.
A new experience outside of rocks and trees
Young, highly inquisitive condors are famous for a behavioral trait: extreme curiosity. When they explore human structures, they become hyper-focused on flexible plastics, vinyl, and rubber.
To a condor, the unique texture and scent of synthetic materials mimic the feel of animal hide and cartilage.
What started as a backyard invasion was actually a collision of modern green technology, curious adolescent behavior, and survival instincts.
Turbines affect birds in other ways, too, like changing how they call.
How do we share our skies when our clean energy solutions draw the wild right onto our doorsteps?