GALAPAGOS WILDLIFE : SHORE BIRDS / SEA BIRDS / REPTILES / MAMMALS / LAND BIRDS / DARWIN FINCHES

GALAPAGOS WILDLIFE - SHORE BIRDS:   Back to top

Great Blue Heron - wildlife found on the Galapagos islands of: Daphne Major, Isabela, Santa Cruz, Santiago
Lava Heron - wildlife found on the Galapagos islands of: Daphne Major, Santa Cruz, Santiago
Yellow crowned Night Heron - wildlife found on the Galapagos islands of: Daphne Major, Santa Cruz
Whimbrel - wildlife found on the Galapagos islands of:
Oystercatcher - wildlife found on the islands of: Bartolome, Santiago
Ruddy Turnstone - wildlife found on the Galapagos islands of:
Semipalmated Plover - wildlife found on the islands of:
Wandering Tattler - wildlife found on the islands of:

GALAPAGOS WILDLIFE - SEA BIRDS:   Back to top

Boobies (Sulidae): Blue-footed, red-footed, and masked boobies can be found on most islands in the Galapagos archipelago -- the blue-footed and masked being the most commonly seen. They're incredible divers, plunging to a depth of 8 meters to catch their prey. One of our favorite memories of the Galapagos wildlife is snorkeling when one of the boobies dived into the water less than 3 meters in front of us and caught a fish. They're colorful, interesting, and fun to watch (especially during their courtship display!).

Blue-footed Booby: Large colonies can be spotted on Daphne Major, Espanola and Seymour islands

Red-footed Booby: Nests on the outer islands of the Galapagos archipelago and usually in trees. Even though its wildlife population is the larges amongst Boobies in the Galapagos, most of its time is spent at sea, best spotted on Genovesa island and at Punta Pitt on San Cristobal island.

Masked Booby: Usually nest on high locations off the coast and are easily found on the slopes of Genovesa and Espanola islands. The courtship varies from island to island, mating ritual on Genoves usually occur May to February and on Espanola September to May.

The Frigatebird (Fregatidae): These scoundrels don't like to do much fishing, and so you can see them trying to distract boobies and other birds to snatch the prey caught by others. They are the most spectacular wildlife during courtship when the male bird inflates the flap of bright-red skin found under his beak. It looks like a great red balloon and is stunningly colorful.

Great Frigate: The more ocean going of both species of both frigate birds, a large community may be found on Genovesa island at Darwin Bay.

Magnificent Frigate

Brown Pelican

Galapagos Flightless Cormorant
(Phalacrocoracidae): The only flightless cormorant in the world! Over years in the Galapagos habitat, it evolved into a great swimmer, losing the capacity to fly. To see this bird, you have to get to the east side of Isabela. It's well worth the time and trip to see this amazing torpedo in the water.

Only found in the western islands of the Galapagos archipelago on Fernandina and Isabela islands.

Red-billed Tropicbird

Swallow-tailed Gull
Lava Gull
Franklin´s Gull
Storm Petrel
Dark-rumped Petrel
Audobon Shearwater
Noddy Tern

Galapagos Penguin
(Spheniscidae): This is the only penguin found in equatorial waters - warm waters. It's the most northerly penguin in the world, as the rest are found in the Southern Hemisphere. Isla Isabela and Fernandina have the most penguins in the Galapagos, but if you're lucky, you might catch a glimpse of a small colony at Bartolome.

Waved Albatross
(Diamedeidae): The waved albatross is a wildlife resident of the Galapagos, and if you make it to the islands from April to December, it can be seen on Isla Hispaniola - Espanola (Hood). Absolutely graceful in the air, it can be away for months and even years at sea without touching land. Landing and taking off, however, is comical, waiting for the control tower to give them the go-ahead. The courtship of this bird is one of a kind - well worth a trip to the Galapagos in October when it generally occurs.

GALAPAGOS WILDLIFE - REPTILES:   Back to top

Giant Galapagos Tortoise
(Testundinidae): You can't go to see the wildlife in these islands without falling in love with these funny, pre-historic creatures. All Galapagos turtles found on the islands belong to the group Geochelone elephantopus. They are divided into 14 sub-species (three of which are extinct), differentiated by the form and size of their shell as well as neck and extremities. Unfortunately, if they don't find a mate for Lonely George soon, there might be 4 extinct species.

The Galapagos tortoises can be visited on the following Galapagos islands and visitor wildlife sites:
Santa Cruz island: at the Charles Darwin research station, in the highlands on Santa Cruz island.
Isabela island: when visiting the Sierra negra volcano, the tortoise rearing center at Puerto Villamil, Urvina bay through an arduos trail and at the Alcedo volcano where the largest Galapagos turtle population is found.

Galapagos Land Iguana
(Iguanidae): Also endemic wildlife to the Galapagos islands, these colorful creatures are nothing short of spectacular. They prefer prickly pear cactus, standing on their hind legs to reach the flowering plant. They have a leathery, tough tongue and don't need to remove the spines from the cactus before eating.

Can be found on South Plaza's island, Santa cruz island by dragon hill and a larger species is endemic to Santa Fe island.

Galapagos Marine Iguana
(Iguanidae): The moment you arrive, you'll be tripping over these creatures. This is the only lizard in the world that lives in the ocean, and the three species seen on the Galapagos islands are endemic. It's brilliant to see them when they're mating, as their black skin turns bright red when the iguanas want to attract a mate.

This wildlife form is easily found throughout the entire Galapagos archipelago, specially on lava rock shores.

Galapagos Lava Lizard
Iguanidae): Not as big or brilliant, but just as interesting, are these endemic lizards found virtually everywhere on the Galapagos islands. They sometimes have a splash of orange or red decorating their chin and look like they're doing pushups when showing off for a lady lizard. There are 7 wildlife species on the islands.


Galapagos Snake
Endemic to the islands, totally harmless. Very dificult to spot, usually seen on Santa Fe and North Seymour islands

Gecko

Galapagos Sea-Turtle
(Cheloniidae): This graceful animal is astounding to watch while snorkeling or diving for underwater wildlife. The pacific green sea turtle is the only resident marine turtle of the Galapagos, and they lay their eggs from December to June. Oftentimes, during these months, you can get volunteer work with the Charles Darwin Research Station, counting nests and marking eggs - a great way to get hands-on wildlife experience in the Galapagos islands.

Usually found mating during the later part of the year just offshore several beaches in the Galapagos or in hidden lagoons, the main visitor sites that allow for wildlife encounters with sea turtles are Santa Cruz island at Black Turtle cove, Isabela island by Elizabeth Bay and Bartolome islet.

GALAPAGOS WILDLIFE - MAMMALS:   Back to top

Sea Lion
the Galapagos sea lion and fur seal. You will never tire of seeing these playful, beautiful wildlife creatures swim through the waters and waddle on land. Be sure not to touch the babies, though, because the mother's recognize their young by scent, and sun-screen, deodorant and human odors can camoflage the scent, leaving the baby motherless.

Fur Seal
Bat
Rice Rat

GALAPAGOS WILDLIFE - LAND BIRDS:   Back to top

Yellow Warbler
Vermillion Flycatcher
Broad-billed Flycatcher
Galapagos Mockingbird
Chatham Mockingbird
Hood Mockingbird
Charles Mockingbird
Galapagos Dove
Dark-billed Cuckoo
Galapagos Martin
Galapagos Rail
Galapagos Hawk
Barn Owl
Short-eared Owl

GALAPAGOS WILDLIFE - INVERTEBRATES
Painted Grasshopper
Centipede
Carpenter Bee
Fire Ant
Butterfly

DARWIN FINCHES   Back to top
The Famous Finches (Fringillidae): What would the Galapagos wildlife be without Darwin's finches? Keep your eyes open because they are found everywhere and might even eat right out of your hand! There are 13 endemic species differentiated by the size and form of their beaks.
It's a fun task to try to identify them after being there a while, though not easy! Other birds to look for are the flycatchers, swallows, gulls, terns, oystercatchers, hawks, flamingos, pelicans, tropicbirds, herons and more!

Galapagos Ground Finches
Small-beaked Finch
Medium-beaked Finch
Large-beaked Finch
Sharp-beaked Finch
Cactus Finch
Large Cactus Finch

Galapagos Tree Finches
Small-beaked Tree Finch
Medium-beaked Tree Finch
Large-beaked Tree Finch
Woodpecker Finch
Mangrove Finch
Vegeterian Finch
Warbler Finch