Blogs posted from this ecoregion:
The ecoregion is exclusive to the country of Ecuador and encompasses all the Galapagos islands, about 960 km to the west of the mainland. The islands are quite young, 3 to 6 million years old in the case of the eastern islands and a million years old for the westernmost islands.
Description of the Ecoregion
A detailed description of the ecoregion can be found at WWF’s site (the map above is a screen shot from that Wildfinder site). There may also be additional information to be found on this ecoregion’s page at Wikipedia.
Briefly, as described by WWF, most of the land in the archipelago is covered by arid, semi-desert xerophytic vegetation. Only a small percentage of the islands reach the higher elevations where more rainfall is concentrated, yielding a more lush, tropical vegetation types. The vegetation of this ecoregion breaks into gradients from sea level to the highest elevation with the progression from littoral zone, to arid zone, to humid zone. A transition zone exists between the arid and humid zones.
Birds of the Ecoregion
As noted below, my list of characteristic bird species includes 91 for the Galapagos, of which a remarkable 33 are endemic species, or more than one third. There is likely no other ecoregion in the Americas with such a small number of species and such a high-proportion of endemic species. The following text is adapted from WWF’s account on their website:
There are many bird species native to the Galapagos ecoregion; the two major groups include seabirds and landbirds. Many seabirds nest on the islands and 7 are endemic. One endemic species is the Galapagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus), the only species of penguin to exist north of the equator and nest in the tropics. 90% of the population concentrates on the western most islands of Fernandina and Isabela, which coincide with the Cromwell Current that cools surface temperatures and increases marine productivity. Many other endemic bird species also depend on this current as a food source. For example, the Waved Albatross (Diomedea irrorata), which is considered endemic to Española Island, spends long periods of time at sea; the Flightless Cormorant (Phalacrocorax harrisi) is the only flightless species from its genus; the Swallow-tailed Gull (Creagrus furcatus); and Lava Gull (Larus fuliginosus), considered one of the rarest gulls in the world. Non-endemic birds include the boobies, storm petrels, frigatebirds, and terns. Shore birds are also dependent on the rich upwelling current as abundant residents and migrant visitors to this ecoregion.
Landbirds are not as numerous as sea and shore birds but 25 are endemic. One of the most notable attributes of these birds is their relative lack of fear towards humans. This fearlessness was even noted by Darwin in his notes from visits to these islands in 1835. Endemic predators include the Galapagos Hawk (Buteo galapagoenis) and the local subspecies of Barn Owl (Tyto alba punctissima) and Short -eared Owl (Asio flammeus galapagoensis). Other landbirds endemic to the Galapagos ecoregion are the Galapagos Dove (Zenaida galapagoensis), Galapagos Rail (Lateralus spilonotus), Galapagos Martin (Progne modesta), and four species of mockingbirds that are endemic to specific islands within the Galapagos ecoregion.
Using the taxonomic treatment as presented in eBird (2017), 16 species of Darwin’s finches occur in the Galapagos, with one additional species outside of the Galapagos, on Cocos Island, Costa Rica. Sometimes grouped as their own family and traditionally treated in the Emberizidae (New World sparrows), recent DNA studies show they are in fact tanagers. There is a remarkable divergence of these species in their beak structure and specialised feeding capabilities. For example, on Wolf Island, Sharp-billed Ground-Finches have been nicknamed vampire finches because they peck at the skin of masked and red footed boobies until they draw blood which they drink. On other islands Small, Medium and Sharp-billed Ground-finches eat ticks and mites that they remove from iguanas and giant land tortoises. Woodpecker and Mangrove Finches (Camarhynchus pallidus, C. heliobates) also have notable feeding behaviours; they feed on insects and larvae but if they cannot reach their prey, they will use a tool to help remove the desired morsel. Their specialized adaptations are most noticeable during times of reduced food availability.
Resources for the Ecoregion Birder
Without any pretense to completeness, the following resources have caught my attention and would be of value to the birder traveling to this ecoregion:
- Standard field guides to Ecuador.
- Wildlife of the Galápagos, Julian Fitter, Daniel Fitter, and David Hosking, 2016. Excellent field guide covering all birds likely to be seen on the islands (as well as plants and animals).
List of Characteristic Bird Species of the Ecoregion
My list below of the “characteristic species” of the ecoregion (see an explanation on the About page) are those that are of regular occurrence and thus excludes very rare or accidental species. The species are classed as residents (r), year-round visitors (yv), wintering (w), or irregular visitors (iv). eBird records from 2000 to 2016 were used to determine status of non-resident species. Those that are endemic species are bolded.
My total for this ecoregion is 91 species, of which 61 are resident, 9 are year-round visitors, 4 are irregular visitors, and 17 are wintering species.
- Blue-winged Teal w
- White-cheeked Pintail r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Pied-billed Grebe yv
- American Flamingo r
- Galapagos Penguin r
- Waved Albatross r
- Galapagos Petrel r
- Sooty Shearwater yv (pelagic)
- Galapagos Shearwater r
- Elliot’s Storm-Petrel r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Band-rumped Storm-Petrel r
- Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Red-billed Tropicbird r
- Magnificent Frigatebird r (endemic-sub-sp.)
- Great Frigatebird r
- Nazca Booby r
- Blue-footed Booby r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Red-footed Booby r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Flightless Cormorant r
- Brown Pelican r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Great Blue Heron r
- Great Egret r
- Snowy Egret iv
- Cattle Egret r
- Striated Heron r (“Lava Heron” is a sub-sp. or color morph)
- Yellow-crowned Night-Heron r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Osprey w
- Galapagos Hawk r
- Galapagos Rail r
- Paint-billed Crake r
- Common Gallinule r
- Black-necked Stilt r
- American Oystercatcher r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Black-bellied Plover yv
- Semipalmated Plover yv
- Whimbrel yv
- Ruddy Turnstone yv
- Surfbird w
- Sanderling yv
- Least Sandpiper w
- Western Sandpiper w
- Short-billed Dowitcher iv
- Wilson’s Phalarope w
- Red-necked Phalarope w
- Red Phalarope w
- Spotted Sandpiper w
- Wandering Tattler yv
- Greater Yellowlegs iv
- Willet w
- Lesser Yellowlegs w
- Swallow-tailed Gull r
- Laughing Gull w
- Franklin’s Gull w
- Lava Gull r
- Brown Noddy r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Royal Tern iv
- Common Tern w
- Galapagos Dove r
- Smooth-billed Ani r (introduced)
- Dark-billed Cuckoo r
- Barn Owl r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Short-eared Owl r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Belted Kingfisher w
- Peregrine Falcon w
- Vermilion Flycatcher r
- Galapagos Flycatcher r
- Purple Martin iv
- Galapagos Martin r
- Barn Swallow w
- Galapagos Mockingbird r
- Floreana Mockingbird r
- Española Mockingbird r
- San Cristobal Mockingbird r
- Yellow Warbler r (endemic sub-sp.)
- Green Warbler Finch r
- Grey Warbler Finch r
- Vegetarian Finch r
- Woodpecker Finch r
- Large Tree-Finch r
- Medium Tree-Finch r
- Small Tree-Finch r
- Mangrove Finch r
- Small Ground-Finch r
- Large Ground-Finch r
- Genovesa Ground-Finch r
- Sharp-beaked Ground-Finch r
- Common Cactus-Finch r
- Medium Ground-Finch r
- Española Ground-Finch r
- Genovesa Ground-Finch r
- Bobolink r or yv?
TOTAL 91
DJG: 45 spp. (Sept. 2017)