Blue-Footed Booby

Blue-footed boobies are one of the most iconic birds in the Galapagos Islands. They mainly feed on fish by dive-bombing them from the air. The name comes from the Spanish bobo or "stupid" because Spanish sailors did not understand why they were not afraid. This picture was taken on Seymour Norte, one of the islands where boobies are found. Seymour Norte is barred from human habitation and can only be visited with a guide.

Bblue-Footed Boobies Mating Ritual

The male struts around with open wings, head raised high, kicking its feet and whistling. The female honks if impressed enough to mate.

The Great Frigate Bird

The Galapagos Islands teem with a large variety of wildlife - including mammals, reptiles and birds. Birds alone, include approximately 178 species; a birdwatcher's paradise. Among these, the Great Frigate bird and the Magnificent Frigate bird are the most popular after the blue-footed boobies, because of their peculiar mating strategy. During the mating season, male frigates inflate a very large red pouch while they sit and wait to be noticed by a passing female. If selected, they mate for life. Frigates are great fliers that can stay in the air for up to two months. A recent study by German researchers in the Galapagos found that frigates achieve this feat by sleeping in short ten-second bursts.

Darwin's Finches

Galapagos finches are notable for the role they played in Darwin's formation of his Theory of Natural Selection. In 1835, Darwin spent four weeks on four different islands and was struck by variations in the shape of beaks among the different species of finches on the islands, differences that appeared to depend on type of available food and location.

Galapagos Giant Turtle

Equally fascinating - along with Darwin's finches, blue-footed boobies, and frigates - are the giant turtles of the Galapagos. Tt is often these giant tortoises that bring tourists to the islands. Statistics about these turtles are amazing. They are not fully grown until age 100 and may live to 160 years. Their enormous size and weight - up to 660 pounds and 60 inches across the shell - are astonishing. Their ability to live without food and water for long periods of time led explorers and buccaneers in past centuries to load them into ship hulls for fresh meat on long journeys.

Turtles in El Chato Tortoise Reserve

There are ten species of turtles across a number of islands in the Galapagos. Nine of these species are considered vulnerable or critically endangered, the result of rats that eat their eggs and other predators intercepting fledglings on the beach on their way to the sea. Preservation efforts include two breeding centers on Santa Cruz and Cristobal where eggs are brought from the wild, incubated, then raised until they are mature enough to return to their islands of origin at about four years old. We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz where we saw turtles from a few weeks to several years old.

Galapagos Giant Turtle

We saw this turtle in the semi-natural area of El Chato Tortoise Reserve on the island of Santa Cruz, where they were walking around, grazing on vegetation, and soaking in muddy water.

Blue-Footed Booby

While blue-footed boobies are the most visible to tourist in the Galapagos, there are two other species - the red-footed boobie and the Nazca booby - whose habitats are less accessible. The largest colony of red-footed booby is on the island of Genovesa. The Nazca booby is the largest of the three species with a wingspan of almost five feet and lives primarily on cliff edges for easier takeoff.

Swallow-Tail Gull

The Swallow-Tail gull is a species of gulls endemic to the Galapagos Islands. I shot this photo on Seymour Norte but there are some fifty colonies spread across the Galapagos archipelago. When not breeding, they are flying long distances in search of fish and squid. Their nocturnal feeding habit is unique among gulls and is made possible by their night-adapted eyes. Females lay one egg on island cliffs that hatch in 35 days. After three months the chicks are independent.

Nesting Great Frigate

For frigates, breeding is a labor-intensive process even though the female lays only one egg. Both parents share the incubation which lasts for 7 to 8 months and both parents feed the chick. Fledglings are not able to fly for another five months. Once able to fly, the young bird nevertheless stays with it's parents for a year. Because of this long period of care frigates breed only once a year.

Opuntia Cactus

Opuntia cactus - also called prickly pear - is the most widely distributed plant in the Archipelago. The six species are endemic to the islands and play a very important role in the nutrition of a variety of animals. The fruits, seeds and pads are consumed by mockingbirds, finches, land iguanas and giant turtles. Finches also get water from the succulent pads and assist in the propagation of the cactus by spreading its seeds across the islands. I took this photo on the path to the beach in Santa Cruz.

Galapagos Brown Pelican

The Galapagos brown pelican is one of the largest birds in the islands, measuring around 41 inches in length with a 90-inch wingspan. They are found all over the Galapagos Islands often resting in mangrove trees as in this picture I took in downtown Santa Cruz. They are great flyers and feed on fish by diving into the sea and trapping fish in their enormous gular sac. We saw this performance in both Santa Cruz and on Seymour Norte.

Galapagos Land Iguana

Galapagos iguanas come in both land and marine versions. I shot this photo on Seymour Norte, but members of the three endemic species can be found on several other islands. Two land iguana species have become extinct while the others are endangered. This has led to a breeding program similar to the one focused on turtles at the Santa Cruz Darwin Research Station. Male iguanas grow to three feet, weigh up to 28 pounds and can live for more than 50 years. Female iguanas are much smaller than males. Galapagos iguanas are of no threat to humans but prefer to remain at a distance. Their diet consists of cacti and their flowers as well as plants and shrubs.

Turtle in the El Chato Tortoise Reserve

Although tourists are not allowed to touch the turtles, it is possible to get quite close without disturbing them.

Nesting Blue-Footed Booby

After mating, boobies construct a nest together and the female typically lays two eggs, often at different times.

Blue-Footed Booby with Chicks

Once booby chicks hatch, males do most of the fishing while the female watches the nest. Blue-footed boobies feed mostly on sardines which are declining because of climate change. As a result, there are fewer boobies seen on the islands.

Close-up of a Galapagos Land Iguana

I took this photo on a guided tour of Seymour Norte. It has the typical orange-yellow color of many adult land iguanas.

Galapagos Land Iguana

Galapagos land iguanas eat cacti without harm from the spines which pass through their digestive system.