THE FASCINATING WILDLIFE OF THE GALAPAGOS

From the air, on land or underwater...Galapagos is simply a true and unique paradise.

Perhaps one of the most popular animals in the Galapagos is the blue footed booby. They can plunge into the sea like an arrow. Females are slightly larger than males. After courtship, showing off their beautiful bright blue feet, blue-footed boobies lay 1 to 3 eggs and incubate them for about 40 days. The nests are located directly on the ground.

Magnificent and Banded Frigatebirds.

These magnificent birds cannot walk or swim, but are excellent flyers. Frigatebirds are also known as pirates of the air because they prey on other birds for food. During the breeding season, males can be seen with bright red throat pouches. The throat pouch is something extraordinary: 85 percent of its color comes from the pigment astaxanthin, a carotenoid that occurs in such high concentrations nowhere else in the avian world.

The Galapagos hawk is the only endemic bird of prey on Galapagos. The female is quite a bit larger than the male. Females mate with several males, all of which later help raise the young. Buzzards nest in trees and often use the same nest several times. With each brood, the nest is enlarged, so it can become very large over the years. Up to three eggs are laid. After hatching, the young stay with their parents for up to four months.

Galapagos Sea Lion

They are found on all the islands. They live in colonies where one male has a harem of 20 to 40 females. Bulls can weigh up to 300kg, but females are much smaller. They can dive up to 300m deep, and reach speeds of up to 15 kilometers per hour. Females have one young per year. The young are nursed until the next young is born, and are always very playful. This is still true for adult females.

The Galapagos Giant Tortoise

Depending on vegetation and climatic conditions, tortoises have evolved in two directions: the saddle shell and the dome shell. The saddle shell shape have given their name to the islands. Galapagos. The dome shell turtles can weigh up to 350 kg and live well over a hundred years. They can sleep up to 16 hours a day, and go up to a year without food or water. There is a special symbiosis with the Lesser or the Middle Ground Darwin finches. These eat the insects from the limbs of the turtles. Once a year 8 to 20 eggs with a diameter of 5 cm are laid. After 4 to 8 months the young hatch.