Galapagos Wildlife
COASTAL BIRDS
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.
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.
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.
LAND BIRDS
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.
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.
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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