Condor wing with goose taxidermy for scale!
I think this a Cackling Goose which is closely related to a Canada Goose but slightly smaller, so it might make the wing look a little bigger than it actually is, but it is a very big wing.

seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from Estonia
seen from China
seen from China
seen from China
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Morocco

seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from China
Condor wing with goose taxidermy for scale!
I think this a Cackling Goose which is closely related to a Canada Goose but slightly smaller, so it might make the wing look a little bigger than it actually is, but it is a very big wing.
More condor photos with other birds for scale. Other birds are not my preps!
Prep No.KHE100
California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) wing prep cleaning photos.
Below: left are before removing tendons and muscle, and right are after removing tendons and muscles.
Prep No.KHE100
California Condor
Gymnogyps californianus
Bird number 100! Except at my first museum I started with a generic ORN number so really I don’t know exactly how many preps I’ve done… probably closer to 200 but still a very special bird.
They’re necropsied pretty bad and a big bird, so they’re probably going to take a few weeks. Which means I really need to be better at taking photos to keep you entertained.
I love finding the little vestigial claw on bird wings where their thumb would be. I’m not sure if all birds still have it, but Hoatzins can actually use it for climbing as chicks.
It just feels like such tangible evidence of avian evolution, and makes their connection with theropod dinosaurs feel so indisputable. It makes me happy.
Prep No.KHE100
California Condor
Gymnogyps californianus
Sewing up the underside of the wing. It really doesn’t need to be very pretty since generally the feathers will cover the incision. This wing is still wet so it doesn’t look as good, but you can look at yesterday’s post to see the fully dry underside.
The California Condor skin fully blow dried and ready for the finishing steps.
I really want to know what happened to their tail…