Hello I found this site as I was looking around. Thought I would tell this story that happened in 1987.
I worked in the field with geologists for two years here in NM. We camped out in late Jan. down around the Gila wilderness looking for turq. and other gem stones. I am a jeweler and had equipment to cut and polish stones and set them or make beeds.
The long dirt road that we took resembled the wall of China. The geologist I was with was driving and his tire slipped and we were over the side pointing down ward .We were stuck there for a week until we rescued ourselfs as the help we thought would come did not .We hiked 9 miles to the highway and hitched into Silver City NM.
My friend thought that help would come so he wanted to stay because that was the last place our friends knew that we were. We didn't have cell phones back then.
The last day we were there we were sitting down out side counting and looking at turq. nuggets on a tarp. It was about noon when a shadow passed over us. I thought it was a glider or small plane , which was a bit puzzeling because we were truely deep into the mountain wilderness. But it was a very large Bird fling about as high up as a small plane might in those mountains. I grew up here in the mountains of NM and I have seen many wild birds. It contenued to fly east then showed up again and circled lower over us. I weighed about 100lbs then but had a paniced thought that this bird could swoop down and pick me up. I just wanted to get hell out of Dodge , which we did.
A big snow storm was building up on the way out.
Because I have been so obsessed with that bird I have done much research and know that Big birds will hitch rides on storms. Was it a Thunder Bird? I think so. Can I prove it -how?

What is your best estimate in wingspan.
Sometimes one can overestimate a birds size by assuming it is further away than it is.

you sure it wasn't a condor?

I don't know because I am pretty bad when caught by surprise. But I did think that it was a glider or small plane. We had put our darn camera in our friends car so didn't get a picture (as they had left already).
My whole family knows that I have been obsessed about that bird for along time. then last summer or fall there was a man (rancher) in southern New Mexico who also saw two that were perched on a bluff. South Western New Mexico would be a good place (I believe )to go looking for these giant birds.
My geologist friend thought that it must be a condor. But they are not here in NM. May be he is right but I personally do not think so - having grown up here in the mountains of the south west I have had two hawks and two owels when I was a child and have seen many birds. for what it is worth - this is just my story- of what I saw..

PS I always hope to see another one (what I know as a thunder bird)... but not up close.
christy

I have seen this thunder bird. It was extremely loud. The noise was like a monstrous "vrooom vroooom" and I threw myself into a nearby ditch and covered my ears until it had passed.

me too,and scott tracey waved from the cockpit.

Well I am not sure .. but it had a wing span that was not fingered like a vulture or turkey buzzard. There is no short supply of vultures in the sky. It was a dark brown color - not black. It flew about as high as a glider or small plane would in a mountainous valley. I don't know if that makes since , and truethfuly I can't guess how many feet high somthing might be. I thought also when we saw it circle back around a little lower in the sky , that it was as tall as I am at least (which is 4'11") if not bigger. never thought that it would be say 6 feet as was reported through other sightings- but it could have been. Although my mind would have a hard time excepting a bird that tall. It was big.
The secound time that I heard of a sighting like this was when I lived near Browbsville Texas.That got my attention ( as i found that I was not alone ). then I became obsessed again and started doing some research - and as I mentioned South Western NM might be a good place to spot them - on a El Nino (rainy ) year. Probably not this year.
Really my husband and some people in my family witnessed UFOs farely close up, something that I don't recall doing personally. Though UFOs were talked about alot while I was growing up. So I guess that this Thunder bird was my UFO.
thanks for writng -I could probably go on about it all day ,as it was a true event in my life.
Christy

Well, from what you've given me, it seems to me like this could very well be a condor. Condors usually have a black plumage, and sometimes can appear a very dark brown color. Of course, i'm sure you know that they are one of the largest flying land birds in North America. Also, alot of people intertwine the bird with Native American cultures, and some even believe that the California Condor is the origin of the ThunderBird myth.

Speaking of this, I just saw a show the other day on the History Channel about "Thunderbirds".It was really interesting how easy they showed it is to misjudge the size of a flying bird, but also how some of the stories and evidence seem undeniable...

I have seen condors at the zoo . They were big and looked like a bussard of somekind . I really do not think that is what I saw because of the way the wing span looked. I have seen alot of what we call Golden Eagles >and that is what the shape looked like to me (though a little darker in color). I have seen that program too on the history channel . The bird shadow protrayed by the hand made kite looked like the shadow (when it -the kite was up in the air) and size that I remember seeing - although again that too may be a bit larger than what I saw. The bird on the telephone pole didn't look right to me though as to the size. Perhaps I could best discribe the size -but not shape at all - of the bird that I saw as being the size of a crane. Which I have also seen many cranes during thier migratory flight along the Rio Grande River.
It was an event to see that bird . I have always been an unofficial bird watcher all of my life . Have had field guides along with my rock field guides as well. There was a time in my 30's where I was free to hike and roam the wilderness here in the South West.
Just wanted to mention something else I and my boyfriend ( at that time) witnessed out on the Eastern Plains of NM. during those days. Just for mentioning , because I wil not forget that either.
Just after a storm we were driving along the eastern plains in our jeep. We drove up to an amazing sight. There stood one lone Bald Eagle in a flat field and all around the Bald Eagle stood Golden Eagles Red Tail Hawks and crows (Ravens) were scattered . These birds were not tightly packed but spread out to maybe an acre and a half
Natural birds but un natural setting . We guess that they were downed by the storm. the Bald Eagle stood regal like a king. It was magestic and scary at the same time > Much like seeing the Thunder Bird

I think my first topic on this board way back was about a thunderbird sighting I had in the Chicago area, I'm a big guy, but the bird scared the crap out of me.

Glad to know I'm not the only one hahaha.