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ST. GEORGE — The California Condor chick that is estimated to have hatched in May in Zion National Park has fledged, making it the first chick born in the park to successfully leave the nest.

Park officials were first made aware that the chick, condor 1,000, known as 1K, had fledged when a group of visitors saw it outside of the nest on Sept. 25. Park biologists confirmed the sighting later that day.

“The chick came out of the nest and wobbled and kind of stumbled out and kind of made its way down to another ledge closeby and then took another little flight over to another ledge,” park spokesperson Eugenne Moisa said. “It’s been staying on that ledge just a little bit lower than where the nest site would be.”

When a chick has fledged, they have fully developed and are grown enough to leave the nest. Chicks typically fledge between 4-6 months old.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” Moisa said. “We estimate that it’s about 4 1/2 months old. So it’s within the range of when to expect it to fledge, and so it’s right there and so it was exciting.”