Galapagos Birds

The diversity of bird species on the Galapagos Island is not all that great, with only 70-80 species occurring on a regular basis, and another 30-40 seen only occasionally or rarely. But many of the species found there are endemic and are seen and breed only there. Others use the islands exclusively for breeding but may wander far and wide during the non-breeding season. In this first segment on birds, species associated with the surrounding ocean for their livelihood and land for breeding purposes will be featured.

There are two gull species endemic to the islands, Lava Gull and Swallow-tailed gull, that are only very rarely seen anywhere else. We did not see many Lava Gulls, perhaps because their coloration matched the lava dominated shorelines quite well, or maybe they just weren't very common. But Swallow-tailed gulls were observed often and were really quite an attractive bird - as gulls go. There are three species of "Boobies" that breed on the islands: Blue-footed, Nazca, and Red-footed. The first two were common but we never did see any Red-footed Boobies, although several hundred thousand of them breed on one on the islands in the NE portion of the archipelago. Nazca Boobies are very similar to Masked Boobies from other regions and may have been considered the same species at one time. Blue-footed Boobies were the most common and it is not difficult to see where they got their name. They were quite tame and many had young that were about to begin flying. Galapagos Penguins were not especially abundant but we found them on several different islands. They are the second or third smallest of all penguin species and the only ones found in the tropics. They likely found their way here many thousands of years ago on the cold Humboldt Current that flows north along the South American Coast from the Antarctic.
There are two Frigatebird species on the islands, the Magnificent and Great Frigatebirds. They are very difficult to tell apart, especially the males. This male is likely a Magnificant rather than Great because of the purplish sheen of its neck feathers. The Great males supposedly have a greenish sheen. Recent DNA studies have determined that the magnificent Frigatebirds on the Galapagos have been isolated from those located in other regions for about 100,00 years, so they may be separated into a different species in the future.

Another of the endemic seabirds of the islands is the Galapagos Shearwater. It ranges widely over ocean areas during non-breeding periods.
They were commonly viewed in offshore areas during our cruise.

The following are two species that I was especially interested in seeing - Waved Albatross and Red-billed Tropicbird. This albatross species breeds exclusively on several Galapagos islands but wanders the oceans during non-breeding periods. It apparently gets is name from the wavy pattern on the neck and breast. Note the band on the right leg of this bird.
We did not encounter many Red-billed Tropicbirds, but their very long central tail feathers made them easy to ID when they were around. In the volcanic cliff areas where they nested, these tail-feathers were often the only part of the birds that we could see.