Galapagos Islands Birdlife

It seems strange to find the little Galapagos Penguins near the equator. This is the only penguin to nest entirely in the tropics and the only one in the Northern Hemisphere.



This is the 3rd smallest in the world and is only 30cm tall. They are black and white in colour and nests in burrows made from natural lava caves and crevices. These penguins are fast swimmers tavelling up to 35 km/hr.

You can get really close to the birds who are are not the least bit interested in humans. This is a Nasca Boobie.
This is a red footed boobie which we only saw on one of the islands.

Another view of a Nasca boobie which is the size of a chicken.

The Brown Peilcans are the only pelicans that are truly marine - which means that they plunge and dive to catch their food. As they lunge they collect 13 litres of water and hopefully a fish and in a strange motion they seem to hang onto the fish and expel the water. Other birds steal any escaped fishes. They were really friendly and at the local fresh market they try to steal the fillets of fish.