Nature Guide: Birds of the Galapagos Islands

Located roughly 1000 km (or 600 miles) off the coast of mainland South America, it comes as little surprise that the Galapagos’s avifauna is dominated by seabirds.  It is estimated that a staggering 750 000 seabirds visit the island each year, including 30% of the world’s Blue-footed Boobies, the world’s largest breeding population of Red-footed Boobies and virtually the entire breeding population of the iconic Waved Albatross. Out of the 19 species of seabird which can be recorded here, 5 are endemic to the island.  There are 27 species of resident land-birds of which an incredible 22 (81%) are endemic.  These include the famous Darwin’s Finches as well as 4 species of endemic mockingbirds.  The remainder of the archipelago’s 112 recorded species is made up of migrant species or vagrants.  This guide includes all 97 species a visitor to the islands can reasonable encounter, but excludes vagrants.