Birds, Galápagos

The birds are one of the main attractions of the Galápagos. The islands have recorded 58 resident bird species, of which 28 are endemic, as well as over 30 species of migrant birds.Resident birds are those which live and breed on the island year round. Endemic species are those which are found no where else in the world other than in captivity. Migrant birds will spend some of the year on an island but also travel to other areas.BirdsGalápagos penguins (pengüino de Galápagos / Spheniscus mendiculus) are endemic to the Galápagos. They survive here because of the Humbolt current which flows from Antarctica along the coast of South America.Besides the penguin, the other flightless bird endemic to the Galápagos is the flightless cormorant (cormorán no volador / Nannopterum harrisi).The waved albatross (albatros andulado / Diomedea irrorata) is the largest bird found in the Galápagos. They are resident on the islands, although they are only found in one other location in the world, and in much smaller numbers.There are eight species of True Petrels and Shearwaters, which have been recorded in the Galápagos, two of which are residents. Besides the resident dark-rumped petrel (petrel lomioscuro, pata pegada / Pterodroma phaeopygia) and the Audubon's shearwater (pardela de Audubon / Puffinus lherminieri), the most commonly seen are the white vented storm petrel (paíño gracil / Oceanites gracilis), the wedge-rumped (Galápagos) storm petrel (paíño de Galápagos / Oceanodrama tethys) and the band-rumped (Madeiran) storm petrel (paíño lomibandeado / O. Castro).The red-billed tropicbirds (rabijunco piquirrojo / Phaethontidae aethereus) and brown pelicans (pelícano pardo / Pelecanus occidentalis) are two of the most easily recognized species which nest in the islands.There are four recorded species of boobies in the Galápagos, only three of which breed in the Galápagos; the blue-footed booby (piquero patas azules / Sula nebouxii), the masked booby (piquero enmascarado / Sula dactylatra), and the red-footed booby (piquero patas rojas / Sula sula). They are not endemic.The most historically significant birds in the Galápagos are the 13 species of Darwin's finches, named for Charles Darwin. His observations of the variations in the bills in these species contributed to his theory of evolution. The 13 species are the sharp-beaked finch (Geospiza nebulosa), the small ground finch (G. fuliginosa), the medium ground finch (G. fortis), the large ground finch (G. magnirostris), the small cactus finch (Geospiza scandens), the large cactus finch (G. conirostris), the vegetarian finch (G. crassirostris), the small tree finch (Geospiza parvula), the large tree finch (Geospiza parvula), the medium tree finch (G. pauper), the woodpecker finch (Geospiza pallida), the mangrove finch (G. heliobates), and the warbler finch (G. olivacea).The Galápagos hawk (gavilán de Galápagos / Buteo galapagoensis) is endemic. Their numbers have been drastically reduced by hunters and they have been completely wiped out on some of the islands.Twenty-two species of sandpipers have been recorded in the Galápagos, although only four species are commonly seen in the islands. They are migrant birds but a few make their home here year round. Visitors are most likely to see the wandering tattler (correlimos vagabundo / Heteroscelus incanus), the sanderling (correlimos arenero / Calidris alba), the whimbrel (zarapito trinador / Numenius phaeopus), and the northern phalarope (falaropo picofino / Phalaropus lobatus).There are two species of flycatchers in the Galápagos; the endemic large-billed (Galápagos) flycatcher (papa moscas, copetón piquigrande / Myarchus magnirostris) and the resident vermillion flycatcher (mosquero bermellón, brujo / Pyrocephalus rubinus) the vermillion is usually found in the highland areas and the large-billed flycatcher is in lower, more arid areas on most islands.The four species of mockingbirds found in the Galápagos are endemic. They include the Galápagos mockingbird (sinsonte de Glaápagos / Neosomimus parvulus), the Charles mockingbird (sinsonte de Floreana / N. trifasciatus), the Hood mockingbird (sinsonte de Española / N. macdonaldi), and the Chatham mockingbird (sinsonte de San Cristóbal / N. melanotis) which is endemic to San Cristóbal.Other bird species which may be seen in the islands include: the magnificent frigatebird (fragata magna / Fregata magnificens), great frigatebird (fragata grande / Fregata minor) great blue heron (garzón azulado, garza morena / Ardea herodias), common egret (garceta grande, garza blanca / Casmerodius albus), cattle egret (garcilla bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), lava heron (garcilla de lava, garza verde / Butorides sundevalli), striated heron (B. striatus), yellow-crowned night heron (garza nocturna, garcilla coroniamarilla / Nyctanassa violacea), greater flamingo (glamenco / Phoenicopterus ruber), white cheeked pintail (patillo, anade cariblanco / Anas bahamensis), Galápagos rail (pachay polluela de Galápagos), paint-billed crake (gallareta, polluela pinta /Neocrex erythrops), common gallinule (gallinula, gallareta común / Gallinula Chloropus), American oystercatcher (ostrero americano, cagrejero / Haematopus palliatus), semi-palmated plover (chorlitejo semiplamado / Charadrius semipalmatus), ruddy turnstone (vuelvepiedras rojizo / Arenaria interpres), black-necked stilt (tero real, cigüeñuela cuellinegra / Himantopus himantopus), swallow-tailed gull (gaviota blanca / Creagrus furcatus) lava gull (gaviota morena / Larus fuliginosus), brown noddy tern (nodi, charraán pardo / Anous stolidus), sooty tern (gaviotín sombrió / Sterna fuscata), Galápagos dove (paloma, tórtola de Galápagos / Zenaida galapagoensis), dark-billed cuckoo (cuclillo piquioscuro / Coccyzus melacoryphus), groove-billed ani (garrapatero piquiestriado / Crotophaga sulcirostris), smooth-billed ani (C. ani), barn owl (lechuza campanaria / Tyto alba), short-eared owl (lechuza de campo / Asio flammeus), Galápagos (southern) martin (martín sureño, golondrina / Progne modesta), and yellow warbler (canario, reinita amarillo / Dendroica petechia).