The 8 photos shown in this post offer diverse views of the California condor. These photos are all from books published 2000-2013.

This 1st photo captures the colors of the condor, including the many shades in the “black” feathers:

Photographer: Kenneth Firk. Book: Houston, David. Condors and vultures. Voyageur. 2001.

Of course, a book about California’s atmosphere needs a photo of a soaring California condor:

Photographer: Scot Martin. Book: Carle, David. Introduction to air in California. University of California Press. 2006.

Of the several photos in this next book, I particularly like this image of an immature condor basking in the sun:

Photographer: Scott Frier. Book: Hirschfeld, Erik, editor. Rare birds yearbook 2008. MagDig. 2007.

Next are 3 condors feeding on a gray whale, joined by 2 turkey vultures and a western gull:

Photographer: Ryan Choi. Book: Hirschfeld, Erik, editor. Rare birds yearbook 2009. MagDig. 2008.

A widely-used college ornithology textbook offers students a photo of a condor chick being fed by a puppet:

Photographer: Uncredited. Book: Gill, Frank B. Ornithology. 3rd edition. Freeman. 2006.

This beautiful photo, my favorite of the 8 here, is saturated with the inquisitiveness of the condor:

Photographer: Joel Sartore. Book: Sartore, Joel. Rare: portraits of America’s endangered species. National Geographic. 2010.

From a scholarly book on the history and politics of endangered species in California comes a photo of a roosting condor displaying its wing tag:

Photographer: Ian Tait. Book: Alagona, Peter. After the grizzly. University of California Press. 2013.

This last image is a fine head study:

Photographer: David Tipling. Book: Cocker, Mark, and David Tipling. Birds and people. Jonathan Cape. 2013.

The photos above present California condors as dignified subjects at several stages of life and as they engage in the various activities of living. Such photos are a critical means of promoting interest in and concern for the endangered California condor.