Galapagos Vertebrates
(much abbreviated list)
Mammals
Fur Seal Arctocephalus australis galapagoensis
Sea Lion Zalaphus californianus wollebaeki
Seabirds
Galapagos Penguin Spheniscus mendiculus
Brown Pelican Pelecnus occidentalis
Blue-footed Booby Sula nebouxii
Great Frigate Bird Fregata minor
Yellow-crowned night heron Nyctanassa violatcea
Lava (galapagos Green) Heron Butorides sundevalli
Flamingo Phoenicopterurs ruber
Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus
Swallow-tailed Gull Creagrus furcatus
Land Birds
Galapagos Hawk Buteo galapagoensis
Galapagos Dove Zenaida galapagoensis
Small Ground Finch Geospiza fuliginosa
Medium Ground Finch Geospiza fortis
Sharp-beaked Ground Finch Geospiza difficilis
Cactus Finch Geospiza scandens
Large Cactus Finch Geospiza conirostris
Vegetarian Finch Platyspiza crassirostris
Woodpecker Finch Camarhynchus pallidus
Warbler Finch Certhidea olivacea
Reptiles
Galapagos Tortoise Geochelone elephantopus
Marine Iguana Amblyrhnunchuc cristatus
Galapagos Land Iguana Conolophus subcristatus
Lava Lizards Tropidurus spp.
Just a few interesting facts about …
Marine iguana
- only seagoing lizard
- eats seaweed (algae)
- ingests and processes salt water
- squirts briny spray from nostrils to eliminate
excess salt
Blue-footed booby
- derives from the Spanish bobo, which roughly
translates to mean "dunce, clown, or stupid fellow".
They look foolish and inept on the ground. Lack of fear adds
to man's interpretation of stupidity. Harlequin effect with brightly
colored faces, feet, and bills.
- Courting dance: male sky points with his beak,
head and tail cocked vertically, wings in almost impossible position.
As female draws near, male begins a slow, meticulous dance, lifting
alternate bright blue webbed feet. Then female joins in, sky
pointing, entwining necks. They present each other with traditional
nest building materials (twigs, feathers, small pebbles) but oddly
enough nest only in a shallow indentation in the ground without
any of these traditional nest materials. This tradition is probably
carried over from long ago, other boobies still build nests with
traditional materials
- feed in shallow waters, close to shore (The red-footed
and masked boobies feed in distant, deep ocean waters
- nesting time is quick; 2 to 4 eggs; sometimes
forced to abandon eggs and/or young chicks if fish supply moves
suddenly offshore
- The dive is extraordinary and beautiful to watch.
Flies up to as much as 15 meters height, tucks wings and plunges
vertically into the shallow waters, hitting the surface with hardly
a splash
- Often maintain enough velocity to continue flying
when they emerge from water
- very adept at underwater maneuverability to chase
fish and avoid obstacles
- Bills are serrated, can hold slippery fish, usually
swallow before surfacing
- When fish concentrate in huge schools, hundreds
of boobies attack. As they drop from the sky like huge raindrops,
the sea is puckered by their nonstop impacts.
- Male is smaller: 2/3rds of the female's 4 lbs.
- Female has enlarged eye pupils
Great frigate birds
- courting by male, cooing warbles, throw back
head and inflate scarlet throat pouch, outstretched wings shake
in violent vibrations … as female flies nearby
- female alights nearby and there begins long period
of courting and trust building
- long period of nest building and incubation (55
days), single egg
- take turns finding food while the other sits
on the nest. Can be gone for days or weeks at a time, while the
partner waits and never leaves the nest
- chicks are born naked, parents provide shade
for several weeks
- first fly at 6 months
- dependent on parents about another 6 months
- total nesting period is 16-18 months, thus mate
only every other year
- frigate birds never dip wings in water, thus
have clever ways of catching food
- lots of skill to catch flying flsh, scare the
fish to jump
- pirating: chase and scare boobies into regurgitating
or dropping their food; frigates very adept at quickly diving
below the other bird and scooping up the catch. Some victims
are less easily intimidated and frigates will grab by the tail
and upend them
- most frigates haven't developed the skill to
distinguish empty from loaded boobies and many unfortunate boobies
end up in the water or shrubbery
- avid scavengers pluck morsels from the surface
of the sea
- aerial acrobats even fly backwards in contest
for food
- often fly hundreds and thousands of km without
touching down
- wingspan 8 feet, bodies up to 3 lbs
