nest with chick
The study nest with a large condor chick a year before the study. Photo by Lorenzo Sympson.

Queen's Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering faculty members, Dr. Daniel Layton-MatthewsDr. Peir Pufahl, and retired Queen's Facility for Isotope Research (QFIR) Lab Associate, April Vuletich, were part of a group of researchers that studied a condor nest in Argentina. Lead author was a Queen's Biology PDF, Matt Duda, and researcher at the Queen's Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory (PEARL) Lab, which is headed by Dr. John Smol, of the Department of Biology.

The study, titled, "A 2200-year record of Andean Condor diet and nest site usage reflects natural and anthropogenic stressors" was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on May 3rd, 2023, and an article about it can also be found on the PEARL Lab website.

To summarize the article, the nest has been used by Condors for over 2000 years. It records the environmental change that has occurred, as well as the arrival of European settlers to the area, and the dramatic change in the Condor diet. Much of this story was identified through Isotopic and Petrographic work. This work is also highlighted in ScienceBBC,and will also be featured on CBC Radio.