INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION
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Home  Galapagos Wildlife
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Galapagos Wildlife |
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 The Galapagos have never been connected with the continent. Gradually, over many
 hundreds of thousands of years, animals and plants from over the sea developed there and as time went by they adapted themselves lo Galapagos conditions and carne to differ more and more from their continental ancestors.
Thus many of them are unique: a quarter of the species of shore fish, half of the plants and almost all the reptiles are found nowhere else. In many cases different forms have evolved on the different islands.
  
Charles Darwin recognized this speciation within the archipelago when he visited the Galapagos on the Beagle in 1835 and his observations played a substantial pan in his formulation of the theory of evolution. Since no large land mammals reached the islands, reptiles were dominant just as they had been all over the world in the very distant past. Another of the extraordinary features of the islands is the tameness of the animals.
The islands were uninhabited when they were discovered in 1535 and the animals still have little instinctive fear of man.
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BIRDS
SEA BIRDS
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Galapagos Penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus)
 The Galapagos penguins live around the Bolivar Channel between western coast of Isabela Island and Fernandina Island. Just 30cm tall, the white-bellied Galapagos penguins are the only penguin species that nest entirely in the tropics and the sole penguin species that reside in the northern hemisphere.
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Blue-Footed Boobies (Sula nebouxii)
 Blue-footed boobies are by far the islands' most commonly observed birds, performing their famous plunge-dive and goofy-looking mating dance for visitors on several different islands. It has brown upper plumage and white lower plumage, with wings being a slightly darker brown than the rest of the body. Juveniles are completely brown and receive their coloration after about one year. In large colonies there is almost continuous breeding with pairs nesting every 7 to 9 months. They can be seen breeding on most islands north of the equator in the Galapagos.
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Red-Footed Boobies (Sula sula)
 The Red-Footed Booby is the smallest of the booby species and arguably the weirdest. Its bright lipstick-colored feet are attached to a body of rather dull white with pale brown wings. Red Footed Boobies are fish eaters and feed almost exclusively far off shore in the open ocean, often around the submerged bajos or submarine volcanoes where upwelling currents cause a bloom of algae and of fish that feed on them. The tree-nesting species live almost exclusively in the infrequently visited islands of Genovesa, North Seymour, and Wolf.
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Masked boobies (Sula dactylatra)
 The masked boobies are the largest and most well known for the murderous habits of their nestlings. Although masked boobies always lay two eggs, only one hatchling survives, since the stronger one pushes its weaker sibling out of the nest to ensure that it will get enough to eat.
The masked boobies are brilliants pure white body plumage contrast with its almost black wing marking Like the blue foot the masked booby nests on the ground but being heavier and larger it has more trouble taking off. As a result its colonies are more usually found near cliffs and on the steep outer slopes pf tuff and cinder cones, where the upward air currents make it easier to take off.
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Flightless Cormorant (Nannopetrum harrisi)
 Another famous endemic seabird, the flightless cormorant, is found only on the westernmost islands of Fernandina and Isabela. These cormorants, the largest of the worlds 29 cormorant species, were originally a flying species, but the lack of predators or terrestrial food meant that big wings were a waste of energy. Those with webbed feet, powerful legs, and small wings survived birds that can't fly. To complicate matters, cormorants nave light bones, appropriate for flying but not for diving. Rather than resign themselves to the shallows of plankton and lesser seafood cuisine, cormorants swallow small stones that provide the extra humph needed to reach the deep, fish-filled waters.
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Frigatebirds (Fregata minor)
 The largest and most notable birds on the islands are the cleptoparasitic great and magnificent frigate birds. Males boast an inflatable red pouch below the beak during mating season—sure to catch the eye of any female. Crowning its attributes, a frigate's wingspan can reach 2.3m, giving it the largest wingspan-to-weight ratio of any existing bird. Mating occurs on San Cristobal and Genovesa from March to April and on North Seymour throughout the year.
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Waved Albatross (Dimedea irrorata)
 The waved albatross is endemic only to Española, where the world's 12,000 pairs nest from April to December before vacationing in the South Pacific. They are the largest birds in the archipelago, weighing over 4kg with a wingspan of 2.5m. The primary food sources of the Waved Albatross are fish, squid, and crustaceans. But they have also been observed to scavenge for other food sources, including the regurgitated food of other birds.
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| COASTAL BIRDS |
Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus rubber)
 Flamingos are by far the rarest and most famous shore-birds; mere 500-600 specimens currently inhabit Floreana, Isabela, Rabida, Santiago, and Santa Cruz Islands. Flamingos feed mostly on algae, shrimps and other aquatic invertebrates. Dangling down their head, the down curved bill is then parallel with the bottom and swinging their heads side to side they suck in water and filter it through their specialized bill with the prey being traped inside.
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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
This dark grey and somewhat sombre looking bird sits motionless on the lava rockpools around the seashore remaining alert and waiting for prey. The great blue heron fished for food during the day and at night. It stands in the water and waits for prey like frogs and fish to pass by and then it grabs them with its long bill. It also eats salamanders, lizards, snakes, shrimps, crabs, crayfish, dragonflies, grasshoppers, aquatic insects and occasionally birds and small mammals like mice. It is the only endemic heron in the Galapagos.
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Lava Heron (Butoroides sundevalli)
 The lava heron is unique to the Galapagos. It dark gray color blends with the color of lava. The Lava Heron can be found blending in to the basalt background on many of the islands feeding on fish, crabs and lizards.
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Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) 
The Yellow Crowned Night Heron grows to around 21 inches and has a wingspan of 44 inches. It is a fairly small, long legged, short necked Heron with a black bill. It is usually found around ponds, swamps and low-land forests. The Yellow Crowned Night Heron is a very rare and elusive bird. The yellow-crowned night heron lives in a variety of wetland habitats, both inland and on the coasts. It specializes in hunting crustaceans, particularly crabs and crayfish, which it crushes with its short, powerful bill. But it also eats fish, insects, snails, frogs and small snakes. To find this bird, like any bird, it's necessary to understand what its life is like.
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American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) 
The American Oystercatchers is a distinctive black and white bird with a striking orange bill. It has a loud shrill call and is frequently both seen and heard around the shoreline. Oystercatchers feed on shellfish (as might be inferred by their name), and rarely fly, preferring to pick their way among the lava rocks of the shore. They lay two speckled eggs in a simple rock hollow, and the young are born ready to forage within days.
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Cattle Egrets (Bubulcus Ibis)
The Cattle Egret is now resident species. It frequents the highland where it is often founds with cattle or tortoises. It nests in mangroves such as are found at Tortuga Bay, Santa Cruz. It is a species associated with human activity, feeding insects and other invertebrates disturbed by cattle and other large animals.
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| LAND BIRDS |
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Finches
 The13 types of Darwin’s finches are the most famous of the Islands. These sparrow-sized birds can only be differentiated by beak morphology and feeding habits. Darwin himself didn't recognize them as distinct species until after he’d left the archipelago. While some live on seeds or fruits. The elusive carpenter finch uses a stick to dig insects out of trees, and the "blood-sucking" vampiro finch of Wolf Island uses its sharp beak to suck the blood of red-footed and masked boobies. |
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Galapagos Mockingbird (Nesomimus parvulus)
 The Galapagos Mockingbird is endemic in the Islands. Mockingbirds are omnivorous, but they occasionally exhibit aggressive, predatory behavior. They will eat just about anything: seeds, insects, baby turtles, young finches, and sea lion placenta. The Galapagos Mockingbird inhabits most of the main and northerly islands, while there are distinct species on Hood, San Cristobal and two smaller islands off Floreana.
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Galapagos Hawk (Buteo galapagonesis)
 The Galapagos Hawk can be found only in the Galapagos Islands. It is a large, dark coloured hawk with broad wings, and a broad tail. Adults are sooty brownish-black in colour with a grey tail barred with darker stripes. The legs and skin at the base of the beak are yellow and the bill is greyish black. Immature birds have blackish-brown upperparts, mottled with buff and white; the tail is off-white with wavy dark bars and their underparts are buff-coloured with a white throat flecked with blackish-brown spots. Males are noticeably smaller than females. There are currently believed to be no more than 150 mating pairs in existence.
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Galapagos Dove (Zenaida galapagoenis)
 The Galapagos dove is most commonly seen on the ground where it forages for seeds and fruits. It is reddish brown with black and white markings, touches of incandescent green, red feet and a bright blue eye ring. The Dove grows to be between 18 and 23cm long. Its bill is curved downward, larger and more curved than most other doves. A process of evolution on Genovesa Island has softened the spines of cactus plants and thereby allowed the Galapagos dove access to pollinate the flowers.
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| REPTILES |
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Giant Tortoises (Geochelone elephantopus)
 The undisputed king of Galapagos reptiles is the giant tortoise. How the big guys (up to 250kg) first came to inhabit the islands is still a mystery. Their closest relative is a species native to Argentina. Sadly, three of the original 14 sub-species are now extinct as a result of human interference, and introduced animals continue to harass the remaining populations. The very characteristics that enabled the turtles to endure millions of years of climate and landscape change have also played a part in the decimation of their population. Sailors and pirates found the giant tortoises excellent sources of meat, especially since the reptiles could live for up to a year without food and thus provide fresh meat for an entire voyage. Even worse, hunters targeted the much smaller, and thus easier to transport, female turtles over the massive males, which further damaged the population's reproductive capabilities. While these tortoises can live to be over 150 years old, they do not reproduce often, and when they do, the vulnerable hatchlings have an extremely low chance of reaching maturity. The Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Center are doing what they can to prevent predation and boost the head count. The largest tortoise population is found on Isabela, concentrated around the crater of Alcedo volcano. Wild tortoises can also be observed on Santa Cruz and Española Islands. Captive tortoises reside at the Charles Darwin Research Center on Santa Cruz and the Breeding Center for Giant Tortoises on Isabela.
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Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas)
 The Pacific green sea turtle calls many of the islands home, breeding from November to January and laying eggs till June. Nesting females plod onto the beach at nighttime, dig an enormous nesting hole in the sand, bury a few dozen eggs, and urinate and defecate on the resulting sand mound to harden the sand and protect the fragile eggs. After about six months, hatched sea turtles quickly scurry to the water, many snatched up by predators along the way. In those few risky moments, they apparently develop a sentimental attachment: after wandering to waters hundreds or thousands of kilometers away, the turtles amazingly return to lay their eggs on the exact same beach where they themselves were hatched. |
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Land Iguanas (Conolophus subcristatus)
 Less exotic (but also endemic) orangish-green land Iguanas can grow up to 1m in length. Keep an eye out for the prickly pear Iguanas on Santa Fe and South Plazas, the rare hybrid Iguana on South Plazas, and the crested canolophus pallidus land iguana species, found only on Santa Fe. Land iguanas reach maturity between 8 and 15 years of age. Males are territorial and will aggressively defend specific areas that typically include more than one female. Following the mating period, the female iguanas migrate to suitable areas to nest, and will lay between 2 and 25 eggs in a burrow dug in the sandy soil. The female defends the burrow for a short time, to prevent other females from nesting in the same place. The young iguanas hatch 3-4 months later, and take about a week to dig their way out of the nest. If they survive the first difficult years of life, when food is often scarce and predators are a danger, land iguanas can live for more than 50 years.
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Marine Iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)
 One of the most bizarre and unique reptiles of the Galapagos is the dark-hued marine Iguana, the only aquatic iguana in the world. They can swim to a depth of 20m, anaerobically lower their body temperatures to stay underwater for up to 1hr. at a time, and are able to rapidly discharge excess salt from their unusually square noses. The Galapagos marine iguana feeds almost entirely on algae (seaweed) that it finds between the tide-lines or below the sea's surface. Whether above or below the sea, the food consists of small red or green algae. It does not seem to be very choosy as to which species of algae it eats, except that it avoids the large brown seaweed Blossevillea.
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Lava Lizards (Tropidurus spp)
 Seven species of gray lava lizard are also unique to the islands. Females have eye-catching red-orange throats. They are very territorial, but most confrontation takes the form of bouncing up and down on the forelegs; fights between lizards are seldom serious but can be entertaining. Galapagos Snakes hunt for small reptiles and mammals. Prey includes lava lizards, grasshoppers, geckos and marine iguana hatchlings. They also feed on finch nestlings. In turn, the snakes are preyed upon by the Galapagos hawk, their only natural predator. They are very difficult to spot but are usually seen on the Galapagos Islands of Santa Fe and North Seymour islands. |
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| MAMMALS |
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Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)
 The superstar mammal of the Galapagos is the Galapagos sea lion. Weighing up to 250kg, the lethargic giants occupy what seems like every open speck of beach on the islands, posing for tourists, surfing a wave, belching loudly, sliding through the water with one fin in the air, Although the sleek sea lions are generally playful, beware of the extremely territorial "beachmaster" machos (male bulls), which pace the shores guarding their harem of 20-30 female partners. Sea lions feed mostly on sardines (the cause of their bad breath), for which they may travel ten to fifteen kilometers out from the coast over the span of days to hunt. It is in deep water that sea lions encounter and must defend themselves from their only predators, sharks.
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Fur seals (Arctocephalus galapagonesis)
 Galapagos fur seals are the smallest pinnipeds. Adult bulls weigh about 70 kg, adult females about 28 kg. Pups are born with a smooth and silky skin to which fur develops around 6 months of age. This made them prime targets for hunters back in the 18th century. The Galapagos fur seal feeds mainly on cephalopods and small schooling fish. Feeding occurs mainly at night
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MARINE LIFE
 While a relatively limited number of species inhabits the terrain, the Galapagos’s waters teem with life. The 16 species of whale include the sperm, humpback, blue, and killer whales. The common and bottle-nosed are the most prevalent of the seven species of dolphin, which are concentrated off the west coast of Isabela and are frequently seen jumping and swimming in schools near the bows of tour boats. Twelve species of shark, including the hammerhead and black-tipped reef shark, and five species of rays also lurk in these waters. Many other species depend on the Galapagos marine life for their food, such as sea birds that eat fish, and the marine iguanas that feed on algae growing on the bottom of the sea. |
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OTHER ORGANIZATIONS OF GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
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