The Galapagos Islands, some 600 km off the Pacific coast of Ecuador, are finest recognized for the species that Charles Darwin took a particular notice of and which helped him within the formulation of his concepts of evolution by pure choice. Darwin’s finches are excessive on this checklist as are the enormous tortoises, the marine and the land iguanas. From the angle of a birder or ornithologist, the seabirds which inhabit these islands are additionally of nice curiosity. For the hen photographer, the alternatives are ceaseless.
The primary weird encounter up right here, proper on the Equator, are the penguins. Galapagos Penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus) are a small species and their most important breeding websites are within the west, significantly the islands of Isabela and Fernandina, the place the chilly Cromwell present gives wealthy pickings for these birds. It’s actually unusual to see penguins up right here, venturing even into mangrove lakes the place they swim amongst sharks and rays!
An albatross additionally reaches these islands – the Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) solely breeds on the southern island of Española and makes use of the chilly Humboldt Present. This island is favoured for nesting as it’s flat-topped, offering preferrred runway situations for take-off.
Some seabirds are widespread and current in very giant numbers. That is the case of the Galapagos Shearwater (Puffinus subalaris). Used to our personal North Atlantic and Mediterranean shearwaters, with their nocturnal habits when approaching the nests websites, I used to be thrown aback with the behaviour of those shearwaters. Even in broad daylight, they might come as much as the nesting cliffs and enter the nests in full view of photographer and avian predators.
However when speaking of seabirds in giant numbers all over the place, it’s the tiny Elliot’s (or White-vented) Storm Petrel (Oceanites gracilis galapagoensis) that steals the present. No additional want for pelagics – these storm petrels are all over the place, even inside coastal lagoons and harbours. They comply with boats and are very obliging in the case of photographic alternatives.
I conclude this primary half with one other endemic seabird, the Flightless Cormorant (Nannopterum harrisi). Just like the penguin, its distribution is carefully linked to the Cromwell Present, and you’ll solely discover it alongside the western coast of Isabela and throughout Fernandina.
