I recently went to San Diego on vacation and of course I wanted to go to the world famous San Diego zoo. While there I came upon this beautiful California Condor and he/she was sitting there preening and letting me just keep snappin' shots of him/her, I figured since it's such an endangered species I would capture some nice shots and share 'em! . . . . The thing I love about the camera i have is this bird was behind a mesh fence and somehow the camrea eliminated the wires all by itself! lol . . . 'Cause I'll be damned if I new how to actually set it to do so!!! =0) Anyway it was a dream come true to go there! Medium: Canon REBEL xti Here's a little info on the bird: The California Condor, Gymnogyps californianus, is a species of bird in one of the vulture families. It is the largest land bird found in North America. The California Condor is currently the world's rarest bird of prey. Currently, this condor only inhabits the western coastal mountains of the United States. Although it is primarily a scavenger, feeding on carrion, this species belongs to the New World vulture family Cathartidae, related to storks and not closely related to Old World vultures, which are in the family Accipitridae along with hawks, eagles and kites. According to a 2005 report of the California Department of Fish and Game the total population of California condors both captive and wild is 273. The California Condor remains in danger of extinction; by 1987, only 22 individuals were left alive, including 127 in the wild. Significant damage to the condor population is attributed to hunting, lead poisoning (from eating animals containing lead shot), DDT poisoning (Kiff et al., 1979), electric power lines and habitat destruction. I'm hoping if I've done anything here besides allow you to enjoy this wonder of nature visually, maybe I've also enlightened and maybe even inspired others to help. Thanx for lookin'!