Galapagos

Avian Life

Now, the Avian Life of the Galapagos, with 56 native species. In fact, 45 of those birds are found nowhere else in the world. There are also 29 migratory species. Also, there are 64 species only observed once or twice. Here are some seabirds: Blue-footed, Red-footed, and Nazca Boobies, Flightless Cormorants, Great and Magnificent Frigatebirds, Red Billed Tropicbirds, Waved Albatross, Swallow Tailed gulls, Lava Gulls, Galapagos Penguins, and some others. An interesting fact is they have different breeding times so you can see chicks, eggs, or males displaying in any month. The endemic (that means they are found nowhere else) of those are The Galapagos Penguins, The Flightless Cormorant (obviously [that was a joke]), The Galapagos Petrel, The Lava Gull, and The Swallow Tailed Gull. One of the ones I find interesting is the Flightless Cormorant. It arrived at the Galapagos with big wings, then grew smaller wings and smaller wings just because they did not need them. But, they became better swimmers over time.There about 1,600 adults, but their population is stabilizing. It is still listed as vulnerable (I think by the IUCN red list, but I'm not sure), though. It fishes for eel, octopus, and fish, easily found prey when it first arrived. It lives in usually sheltered areas, no more than 100 meters from the shore. It has little groups that it lives with. The most common shorebirds and water birds are The (This is a really long section and I quoted it from my notes because I command copied it into my notes from another source, I am aware this is a run on sentence and longer than what I copied, but that is why it is in quotes.) “Galapagos flamingo, Great Blue Herons, Yellow-crowned Night Herons, Lava Herons, Black-crowned Herons and Striated Herons, Oystercatchers, White-cheeked pintails, Gallinules, and Common Egrets.” The Galapagos Flamingo has only 320 to 350 individuals, and is endangered (obviously).The flamingos survive because they can breed with only a few pairs there. They eat mainly brine shrimp and live in the saltwater lagoons near the sea. The Great Blue Heron eats the largest prey of the herons on Galapagos. The Lava Heron hunts with stealth, and you don’t want to be a fish swimming nearby. The Yellow-crowned heron likes small crabs and hunts at night. Now to the land birds, 29 overall and 22 are endemic. There are also four subspecies. I find that amazing. All of them may have from from South America as well. Thirteen of the endemic 22 are Darwin’s Finches. There are thirteen species, all of them from one descendant and evolved perfectly to meet the requirements of their islands. The rest of them are The Galapagos Hawk, The Galapagos Dove, The Galapagos Flycatcher, The Galapagos Rail, and The Galapagos Martin. The Galapagos Short-eared Owl, The Galapagos Barn Owl, The Galapagos Mangrove Warbler and the Vermillion Flycatcher are the additional four subspecies. There are some birds only found one island, such  the Espanola Mockingbird, Floreana Mockingbird, The Medium Tree Finch on Floreana, and the San Cristobal Mockingbird. Unfortunately, 8 land birds are on the IUCN red list. That concludes Avian Life.