Fernandina and Isabela Islands
There is a bird that can not fly, when all of the other species in its family do fly. It is quite heavy (9 pounds) and has a vestigial keel. The “keel” projects from the breastbone and anchors the flight muscles on all flying birds, but the bird I am talking about is completely flightless. One of its nicest features is the eye color, a turquoise blue, and one of its greatest achievements is to dive down to 90 feet when foraging for food. There isn’t a total agreement about how many there are in its family (Phalocrocoracidae); the book “Life of birds” by Welty and Baptista talks about 37 species. It doesn’t matter how many species there are in the world, the important thing is that this is the only one representative of its family that has exchanged its pilot license for a PADI license.
Which is the bird I am talking about? Any guesses? It is the flightless cormorant, unique to the Galápagos, and to the western realm of the archipelago. We saw them in the morning, while Zodiac riding along the coast of Isabela Island, and we saw them nesting in Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island as well. We were all amazed by this unique and rare kind of bird. However, we also did enjoy everything else, like penguins, sea lions, ocean sunfish, manta rays, fur seals and breeding marine iguanas. And at the end of the day, we even had an unexpected sighting, a couple of Bryde’s whales feeding next to some of the Zodiacs. We couldn’t ask for more!
There is a bird that can not fly, when all of the other species in its family do fly. It is quite heavy (9 pounds) and has a vestigial keel. The “keel” projects from the breastbone and anchors the flight muscles on all flying birds, but the bird I am talking about is completely flightless. One of its nicest features is the eye color, a turquoise blue, and one of its greatest achievements is to dive down to 90 feet when foraging for food. There isn’t a total agreement about how many there are in its family (Phalocrocoracidae); the book “Life of birds” by Welty and Baptista talks about 37 species. It doesn’t matter how many species there are in the world, the important thing is that this is the only one representative of its family that has exchanged its pilot license for a PADI license.
Which is the bird I am talking about? Any guesses? It is the flightless cormorant, unique to the Galápagos, and to the western realm of the archipelago. We saw them in the morning, while Zodiac riding along the coast of Isabela Island, and we saw them nesting in Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island as well. We were all amazed by this unique and rare kind of bird. However, we also did enjoy everything else, like penguins, sea lions, ocean sunfish, manta rays, fur seals and breeding marine iguanas. And at the end of the day, we even had an unexpected sighting, a couple of Bryde’s whales feeding next to some of the Zodiacs. We couldn’t ask for more!
