Ready, set, hatch! Shatash and Sisquoc’s baby began to pip, or poke through its shell, early Thursday morning. Pipping takes anywhere from 48 to 72 hours, so we can expect the chick – the first California condor to hatch on live webcam – as early as Saturday. Fans will get to see the hatchling’s bald, pink head crack through the 9-ounce egg as its parents stand by to help.

Over the next few months, Shatash and her partner Sisquoc, who live in the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park, will care for their baby. In about five to six months, fans will see the fledgling fly for the first time.

During the chick’s first year, Shatash and Sisquoc will take turns teaching it “how to be a condor,” said Safari Park bird curator Michael Mace. That entails foraging, learning to pick up food, and interacting with other condors, which is important because these birds are extremely social.

In other words, between the eagle cam and this, there will be plenty of avian entertainment to keep you busy for months to come.

Until Thursday, Shatash and Sisquoc had cared for a false egg while scientists monitored the real egg in an incubator. Scientists waited until Sisquoc and Shatash were outdoors to make the switch.

Scientists keep condor eggs in incubators to ensure they develop properly. Each one is extremely precious: California condors are among the most endangered birds in the world. In the 1980s, when the zoo’s California Condor Recovery Program began, there were only 22 left. Now there are about 400. To date, 172 chicks have hatched at the zoo since the program began.

In case you’re wondering what the hatchling’s name will be, you get to decide! Send in your suggestions by March 15 via Twitter (#CondorName) or Facebook. The names must be in Chumash, a family of languages spoken by Chumash Native Americans, and have relevance to condors. Sisquoc, whose name means “in the thick tule,” is named after the Sisquoc Condor Sanctuary, the first protected space for this species, located in Los Padres National Forest in California. The condor team will pick their favorite entries, and fans will get to vote on the baby condor’s name later this month.

Watch a condor fledgling hop and flap as it attempts to fly in a cave nest in Baja California, Mexico. (SOURCE)