RARE BIRDS

Although not as uncommon as dodos and passenger pigeons, California condors are few and far between. At last count, there were only 219 in the wild, which means catching a glimpse of the largest flying land bird in North America is rare. However, for our photographer, it's a different story. So far, he's photographed about a third of Arizona's wild condors, and he's on a mission to capture the rest.

A PORTFOLIO BY JOHN SHERMAN

"If a sparrow flies 10 feet above your head, you might not even notice. if a hawk does that, it's like, 'whoa, cool.' but when a condor with a 9-foot wingspan flies that close, it's an experience you'll never forget." - john sherman

RIGHT: A condor suns its wings in a morning preflight ritual. “This condor’s black head indicates it’s a juvenile,” Sherman says. “It will not get its orange, yellow and purple head until it’s about 4 or 5.” AH

"if it can be hard enough to see any condors at all, so photographing all 74 of them would be very hard, but it would be great to try." - john sherman