by galapagoscruises — published on March 16th, 2009
Frigate Birds in Galapagos and beyond are the only sea birds that are not waterproofed!
Frigate birds produce hardly any oil and therefore don’t want to land in the ocean. They do attack and rob other seabirds of their fish.
Since they are never in the sea, you will notice them up in the air: they are those large black birds looking like big black kites. And they perform a fast and amazing display when they dive after fish dropped by other seabirds.
Their body is as big as a chicken and the tallest Galapagos frigate bird can have a wingspan reaching more than 7 feet (or 2m).
Although frigate birds seems to have black feathers when you see them flying in the Galapagos sky, their feathers produce different colours when they refract the sunlight:
- Magnificent Galapagos Frigate Birds will refract purple colours
- Great Galapagos Frigate Birds will refract green colours.
Male frigate birds have a typical red patch of skin at their throat. During courtship, males will force air in this red gular pouch as if they were carrying a big red balloon.
We didn’t see any frigate birds’ courtship when we visited Galapagos, as the birds where hatching when we set foot on the North Seymour Islands.
On the picture you see a female Frigate Bird of Galapagos as females are marked with white colours below.
Technorati Tags: frigate birds, frigate birds galapagos, Galapagos, north seymour islands, sea birds
by galapagoscruises — published on February 28th, 2009
The first Galapagos Island we set foot on was Island Baltra. Unlike in Antarctica, where you first impression is: gosh: what a smell (penguin droppings…), in Galapagos your are struck by the diversity of animals "just minding their own business".
What I will never forget and what sets the stage for your whole Galapagos vacation was the sea lion coming to greet us!
Sea lion’s welcome on Galapagos!
2 things are special on Galapagos:
- you are only allowed with very tiny groups on each and every island at one time, so it’s all but mass-tourism
- the animals just come to you in stead of you needing to wait hours in order to see a glimpse in the distance!
It’s just unforgettable!!!
Technorati Tags: animals, antarctica, baltra island, diversity, first impression, galapagos island
by galapagoscruises — published on February 24th, 2009
Galapagos island finches make up my favorite way to show my students the diversification of the species: their beaks differ according the food they eat (see our previous post: Charles Darwin and Galapagos finches).
But when you use these finches as an educational means, then don’t stress on the names of the beaks… Always make sure your audience starts loving what you are doing, once they love nature, they will ask you more. And once you got them started asking, you will be able to teach them facts. The main thing is you start with teaching love 
Galapagos Island Finches : what about their beaks?
When it comes to the finch, there is nothing spectacular about its beak: it needs to survive like you and me. And that’s what biology education should be about: how do creatures live next to each other in order to survive?
As you can see: my point of view is more ecological than just name this plant and never ask yourself why there is a plant in the first place.
Also: people will remember things that interests them. So try to get people interested in nature first and then the name giving aspects will come later.
Technorati Tags: beak, beaks, biology education, Charles Darwin, charles darwin and galapagos finches, creatures, diversification, finch, finches, Galapagos Finches, galapagos island, galapagos island finches, point of view, stress
