Endangered California Condor in San Gabriel Mountains Black and White
by Ram Vasudev
Title
Endangered California Condor in San Gabriel Mountains Black and White
Artist
Ram Vasudev
Medium
Photograph
Description
California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus), perched high on a tree in the San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County. This is a black and white rendition of my color version.
Wildlife photography in black and white is fascinating. There are no color distractions. It is all about light, shadows, tonality, lines, form, shape and texture.
The California Condor is the largest North American land bird and is an endangered species. Its numbers in the wild dwindled due to habitat loss, lead poisoning and hunting. It was brought back from near extinction through a breeding program with the remaining wild Condors in ~1987 at the San Diego Zoo. There are now many California condors that are free-flying in the central/southern California region. All have colored and numbered tags that allow biologists to track and monitor them in the wild. Ventana Wildlife Society began condor releases in Big Sur in 1997 and in 2003 initiated a second release site at Pinnacles National Monument in collaboration with the National Parks Service (NPS). As of December 2022, there were a total of 537 Condors, of which 336 were wild.
California condors provide a critical ecological service as scavengers: they only eat dead animals on the landscape. Like other North American vultures, condors are well-adapted for this purpose. They use their sharp, hooked beaks and powerful jaws and necks to yank, pull, and tear meat from carcasses. California condors live in rocky, forested regions including canyons, gorges and mountains, as in this picture.
Image copyrighted
© Ram Vasudev
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Uploaded
March 14th, 2023
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