California Condor Chick About To Hatch In San Diego

A California condor chick is about to hatch at the San Diego Zoo, a process that can be viewed over the Internet, park officials announced today.

Zoo officials said the egg began to pip — the process of the chick breaking through the egg shell from the inside — this morning. The pipping period can take two to three days until the chick hatches, they said.

Viewers of the “Condor Cam” — sandiegozooglobal.org/video/condor-cam – – may see the chick’s beak protrude through the egg shell or the parents gently removing broken eggshell fragments to help their offspring emerge.

The public can suggest names for the chick in the Chumash language via postings on the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy’s wall at facebook.com/sdzglobal or by tweeting to twitter.com/sdzglobal and using the hashtag #CondorName.

Suggestions will be accepted through March 15.

Condor keepers will pick their favorite ideas and the people who suggested them will receive a special prize. The public will get to vote for their favorite name later this month.

The chick’s father is named Sisquoc, after the first protected space set aside for condors in 1937 in the Los Padres National Forest. Sisquoc is a Chumash word that means “in the thick tule.”

The mother, who laid the egg Jan. 13, is named Shatash.