BIRDS OF THE GALAPAGOS

Boobies received their name by allowing them to be captured while asleep. Boobies are a part of the sulidae family made up of ten species of long-winged sea birds the size of geese. Their feet are completely webbed including hind toes, not free as in a duck. Boobies live near tropical and subtropical islands around the world, coming ashore only to breed. At sea they can be seen diving from the sky to catch fish. The Galapagos is home to three varieties of booby the blue-footed, red-footed and masked boobies.

BLUE-FOOTED BOOBY (Sula Neboxuii)

Named for their blue legs and feet these are the most common and non-descript of the Galapagos booby. Their natural habitat extends from Peru to Mexico. Young blue-foots look quite similar to adults yet it takes 2 to 3 years to reach their adult plumage of a pale streaked head, dark mantle with white patches on the nape and rump, white bellies and a dark tail. Blue-footed boobies nest in colonies. 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.

RED-FOOTED BOOBY (Sula Sula)

The smallest booby grows to be 28 in (71 cm) long with a wingspan of 4-½ ft (1.37m). Most of the red-footed are all brown with the exception of red legs and feet and a light blue bill with a red base. A small percent of the red-foots are mistaken for masked boobies with white heads, bodies and wings, red feet and legs, and blue beaks.

Colonial in nature the red-footed booby differs from the other boobies by making their nests in small trees and shrubs. Colonies can be found on Tower, Culpepper, Wenman, Gardener-near-Floreana, Punta and Isla Pitt. They are rarely seen in areas other than where they breed. Eggs can be found throughout the year with colonies hatching at the same times.

MASKED BOOBY(Sula Dactylatra)

The largest of the Galapagos booby grow to 30 to 35 inches (76 to 89 cm) in length with a wingspan of 5 to 6 ft (1.5 to 1.8m). Adult birds are easily identified with their beautiful white head, body and wing coverts, dark tails, masks, and patches on their backs. Young masked boobies with their gray legs and feet their dark head and bellies can be mistaken for the brown booby.

Masked boobies are common in the tropics and subtropics nesting in colonies along cliffs or at the sea edge. These are the only boobies in the Galapagos to have an annual breeding cycle, though the cycle varies between islands. On Tower Island most of the eggs are laid between August and November while on Hood Island the eggs are laid from November to February.

GALAPAGOS PENGUINS

Yes, penguins do exist on the equator! The Galapagos Penguin (spheniscus mendiculus) is the most northerly occurring of all the penguins. Endemic to the islands at approximately 14 inches in height it is smaller and more duck-like than its southern cousins of the Antarctic. Adult penguins have a bluish-black head, back and flippers when new. Older worn feathers, dull to a brown color. Their underside is white with the exception of a black line along the side and scatter feathers on the chest.

They were brought to the Galapagos by the Humboldt Current, which brings cold waters and nutrients north from Antarctica. The Galapagos Penguins live in colonies feeding on small fish caught while swimming underwater.

Galapagos Penguins mate for life. Nesting occurs throughout the year with the majority of nests being seen between May and January. Some penguins may mate as often as every 6 months. Female penguins lay 1 to 2 eggs each season. The eggs are laid in holes under the lava and the pair shares the responsibility of watching over the nest. In years with warm waters from the El Niño Current, life changes in the Galapagos including heavy declines in the penguin population.

The total population of Galapagos Penguins is a couple of thousand. Nesting occurs on Fernandina and Isabela. The best chances for seeing Galapagos Penguins are on Fernandina, Isabela, Sombrero Chino, Bartolome (where display and mating can be seen), and Floreana. It is rare to see penguins on the other islands.

DARWIN'S FINCH

The Galapagos Islands is home to 13 species of finch, belonging to 4 genera. These finches all evolved from a single species similar to the blue-black grassquit finch (volatina jacarina) commonly found along the Pacific Coast of South America. Once in the Galapagos Islands the finches adapted to their habitat and the size and shape of their bills reflect their specializations. Vegetarian finch and ground finch all have crushing bills while tree finch have a grasping bill and cactus finch, warbler finch and woodpecker finch have probing bills.

All of Darwin's Finch are sparrow sized and similar in appearance with gray, brown, black or olive feathers. They have short rounded wings and a rounded tail that often appears cocked to one side. Most male finch mature to a solid black color, while the females mature to a drab grayish color. Exceptions are made for the vegetarian and tree finch the males never become completely black rather they have a black head, neck and upper breast. Warbler, woodpecker and mangrove finch have more of an olive color.

The finch vary by what they eat some eating seeds and others insects. The ground finch eat ticks they remove with their crushing beaks from tortoises, and iguanas and marine iguanas and kick eggs into rocks to feed upon their contents. On Isla Wolf the sharp beaked ground finch is known as the "vampire finch" as it jumps on the backs of masked boobies and red-footed boobies pecking at their flesh and feeding on their blood. Woodpecker and mangrove finch use small twigs and cactus spines as tools to dine on the larva stored in dead tree branches.

Though they have adapted to allow for specialized feeding most finches are generalized eaters. The specialization developed allowing the birds to survive during the dry season or times of drought when little food is available. Then these specialized tools allow the birds to better compete for food sources with other birds and animals.

NESTING TIMES IN THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

• Waved Albatross:  Apr-May with some eggs in Jun-Jul
• Blue-Footed Booby: Jan-Dec
• Masked Booby: Aug-Feb with some eggs in Mar, May, and Jul
• Red-Footed Booby: Sep-Jan, Mar-July
• Flightless Cormorant: Mar-Sep with some eggs Oct-Feb
• Magnificent Frigatebird: Jun-Sep with some eggs Oct-May
• Great Frigatebird: Jan-Dec
• Lava Gull: Some eggs Feb, Apr-May, Jul-Aug, and Oct-Nov
• Swallow-Tailed: Gull Jan-Dec
• Brown Noddy: Nov-Jul with a some eggs Aug-Sep
• Galapagos Penguin: May-Dec with some eggs Jan to Apr
• Hawaiian Petrel: Feb-Mar and Jun-Jul with some eggs in Aug
• Band-Rumped Storm Petrel: May-Jun and Nov-Dec with some eggs Jan-Feb, Apr, and Jul
• Wedge-Rumped Storm Petrel: May-Jun with some eggs Feb-Mar
• Red-Billed Tropicbird (Plaza): Sep-Jan with some eggs Feb, Jun, and Aug
• Red-Billed Tropicbird (Tower-Daphne): Jan-Dec
• Brown Pelican: Jan-Dec
• Audubon's Shearwater: Jan-Dec