Genovesa Island
Every evening, after an excitement-filled day on shore, we go over our activities and more in a traditional “recap”. Tonight one of our five naturalists, Lucho, went over the different types of symbiotic relationships that exist in nature, many examples of which we saw in action over the week. Undoubtedly the most spectacular (and outrageous!), which we were all witnesses to this afternoon, is the kleptoparasitic behavior of the frigate birds.
These magnificent birds are true flying machines, practically all wings and tails: in fact the total feather mass outweighs this bird’s skeleton, and they have the highest wingspan to bodyweight ratio of any other bird in the world (a seven foot wingspan on a bird weighing just 2.5 pounds!). They are incredibly agile and versatile when on the wing, and as a result can out-maneuver any other sea bird. This is essential to the survival of this impressive bird, as they have atrophied preen glands that means they cannot waterproof their feathers in order to land on, or feed within, water. They are furnished with long hooked beaks, which allow them to scoop food up either from water or land (earlier on in the week we had the amazing spectacle of seeing several frigate birds fight over a sea lion placenta on the beach); but their amazing flight capacities mean that the main means of sustenance is another: quite simply, theft. It is a truly thrilling sight to see these birds catch a poor tropic bird, booby or gull in mid flight, and shake them by the tail or wing, until, squealing, they are forced to regurgitate some of the food kept in their crop.
Every evening, after an excitement-filled day on shore, we go over our activities and more in a traditional “recap”. Tonight one of our five naturalists, Lucho, went over the different types of symbiotic relationships that exist in nature, many examples of which we saw in action over the week. Undoubtedly the most spectacular (and outrageous!), which we were all witnesses to this afternoon, is the kleptoparasitic behavior of the frigate birds.
These magnificent birds are true flying machines, practically all wings and tails: in fact the total feather mass outweighs this bird’s skeleton, and they have the highest wingspan to bodyweight ratio of any other bird in the world (a seven foot wingspan on a bird weighing just 2.5 pounds!). They are incredibly agile and versatile when on the wing, and as a result can out-maneuver any other sea bird. This is essential to the survival of this impressive bird, as they have atrophied preen glands that means they cannot waterproof their feathers in order to land on, or feed within, water. They are furnished with long hooked beaks, which allow them to scoop food up either from water or land (earlier on in the week we had the amazing spectacle of seeing several frigate birds fight over a sea lion placenta on the beach); but their amazing flight capacities mean that the main means of sustenance is another: quite simply, theft. It is a truly thrilling sight to see these birds catch a poor tropic bird, booby or gull in mid flight, and shake them by the tail or wing, until, squealing, they are forced to regurgitate some of the food kept in their crop.
