Today’s ‘Photo Of The Day’ is an image of a California Condor I took on my road trip back in May of this year.

I was hoping to get a shot of one of these birds and I was finally able to at the Grand Canyon North Rim.  She is number A7  (or could be 47, but according to a tourist that talked to a ranger, she is A7).  She had also been hanging around the Lodge a little too much that week (they’re normally curious about people but she was showing up there for several days), and via a ranger they said they were going to capture her and make sure she was ok and healthy.  As we were leaving the Grand Canyon that morning I saw the guy with the radar antenna and net going off to search for her.

“California Condors have the largest wingspan of any North American bird.”

“Condor numbers dramatically declined in the 19th century due to poaching, lead poisoning, and habitat destruction. Eventually, a conservation plan was put in place by the United States government that led to the capture of all the remaining wild condors in 1987. These 22 birds were bred at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo. Numbers rose through captive breeding and, beginning in 1991, condors have been reintroduced into the wild. The project is the most expensive species conservation project ever undertaken in the United States. The California Condor is one of the world’s rarest bird species. As of April 2009, there are 322 condors known to be living, including 172 in the wild.”
Photo Details:
Canon 50D
Canon 100-400mm f4/5.6 USM IS L