There are 29 species of land birds living in the Galapagos Islands, and 22 of these are endemic (only found in Galapagos). It is thought that they originally came from South America many thousands of years ago. The Galapagos land birds have mainly dull colouring, and they are well known for being very tame! There are 19 species of sea birds that breed in Galapagos, and 5 of these are endemic.

Galapagos penguin

The Galapagos penguin is found on Fernandina, Isabela and Bartolomé islands, and is an endemic species. This is the only penguin that is found north of the equator and is able to survive here because of cold currents of water that flow around Fernandina and Isabela islands (the cold current is called the Humboldt current). The Galapagos penguin is flightless, like the rest of the penguin species, and is only 35 centimetres tall, which makes it one of the smallest penguins in the world.

Frigatebirds

There are 2 species of frigatebird found in the Galapagos Islands: the great frigatebird and the magnificent frigatebird. They are large and black with long wings, long hooked beaks and forked tails. They are best known for the bright red sacs beneath the beaks of the males, which they inflate to the size of a football to try and attract the females!

Waved albatross

Waved albatross only breed in one place in the world - on Española Island in Galapagos. They are one of the largest birds in the islands, weighing up to 4 kilograms with a wingspan of over 2 metres. They also have a long lifespan and can live for up to 50 years.

Flightless cormorant

There are only 800-1000 pairs of flightless cormorant in the world, and they are found only on Isabela and Fernandina islands. They are large dark coloured birds with a long hooked end on their beak. They have lost the need to fly but have a very streamlined body for swimming and diving, and they eat eels, octopus and fish.

Boobies

There are 3 species of booby that live in Galapagos: the blue-footed booby, the red-footed booby and the Nazca booby (also known as the white or masked booby). The blue-footed booby is the most commonly seen of these species, because it nests and feeds along the coast. They are large birds with bright blue feet that are used to help attract a mate.

Lava gulls

Lava gulls are only found in the Galapagos Islands. They are thought to be the rarest gull in the world, with only about 400 pairs. They are dark grey in colour, and feed on fish, seabird eggs, and young turtles and iguanas.

Galapagos hawk

These hawks are endemic to Galapagos and are found on almost all of the islands. They have very sharp eyesight for catching their prey, which includes lizards, young iguanas, rats, grasshoppers and other young animals and birds.

Owls

Two species of owl are found in Galapagos: the short-eared owl and the barn owl. There are about 5000-9000 pairs of these bird species living in the islands.

Darwin's finches

There are 13 species of Darwin's finch (small ground finch, medium ground finch, large ground finch, vegetarian finch, woodpecker finch, mangrove finch, small tree finch, medium tree finch, large tree finch, cactus finch, large cactus finch, sharpbilled ground finch, warbler finch), and each has a different shaped beak for feeding on foods such as insects, flowers, leaves, seeds (and one, the sharp-billed ground finch, also known as the vampire finch, feeds on blood from other birds!). Another, the mangrove finch, is threatened with extinction and only 40-50 pairs remain in the world.

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