Blue-Footed Booby and Friends

Booby dance

The blue-footed booby is one of the more well-known species of birds in the Galapagos Islands.  This booby is looking skyward and has apparently spotted a female, so he begins to strut and dance.

The Blue-footed Booby of the Galapagos Islands

The above photo was one of my big disappointments of the Galapagos trip.  After waiting for many minutes for this booby to dance, I was zoomed in too close.  The result was a photo with cut off wings and beak.  I later zoomed back a bit and he again strutted, but he had turned around and my photo was of his back side.  Such is the life of a travel photographer who tries to be a nature photographer for a couple weeks.

Booby Nest

The above booby is incubating some eggs and apparently does not wish to leave the nest.  So ALL business is taken care of right there.  However, it does make for a interesting design.

 

Booby & Baby Chick

The ten avid photographers of our group walked along the well-defined path looking for scenes of the various birds on this island.  It seemed odd that some eggs had not hatched and other boobies had quite large chicks.  Apparently this is because they practice asynchronous hatching, meaning not all the eggs hatch at once.

Prancing Booby

 

The Blue-footed Booby Mating Dance

Male boobies can be seen standing on stumps and rocks looking skyward.  When a female is spotted flying overhead, they will start their strutting dance.

Skyward Looking Booby

 

How do you like me now?

 

Hey… Those ARE Blue!

When the boobies fish, they look like modern-day fighter jets.  These birds are likely diving for sardines, which we are told are declining in number, just as is the blue-footed booby.

Dive Bombing Boobies

Frigatebirds Live Here Too

The frigatebirds live in the same area as the booby.  We were fortunate to see this frigatebird do his mating dance.  Once the large red pouch is inflated, they shake it back and fourth wildly.  A movie would have captured this better, but I took only photographs.

Frigatebird

 

Frigatebird baby squawking

This frigatebird hitched a ride on our boat for a while.  You can see how the red pouch looks when deflated and not being used to attract a mate.

Relaxed Frigatebird

 

The Land Iguana Lives Among the Birds

Land Iguana

The land iguana apparently is an herbivore and leaves all the bird eggs alone, eating only cactus instead.

Iguana Hands

Personally, I do not trust him with all those bird eggs laying around.  He is trying to look much too innocent to me.

 

Goodbye Galapagos Islands

Tourists are brought to scenic Bartholomew Island and Pinnacle Rock for snorkeling, swimming on the sandy crescent shaped beach and a hike to the top for a grand vista.  This island seemed to be oddly void of most living creatures.  This was one of our final stops.  Throughout this tour we were always led by a knowledgeable Ecuadorian guide, as required by law.  We could not wander about freely, which is totally appropriate when trying to control close to 200,000 tourists per year.

 

Too Many People, Too Few Resources

Shortly after Ecuador gained independence from Spain, it claimed the Galapagos Islands.  However, the government could not convince any of its citizens to live on these remote islands.  In order to have a legitimate claim to the islands, they exiled prisoners here.  By the 1950’s there were small towns and a tourist boom began in the 70’s.  Suddenly, the Galapagos was the place Ecuadorians wanted to be.  The poor Ecuadorians flocked to the islands to make a better living from tourism.

Too much of a good thing led to such a large migration from the mainland that free migration was halted in the 90’s and the government began moving Ecuadorians back to the mainland.  So the government of Ecuador is taking the steps deemed necessary to preserve the islands.

Rather than launch into stories of the islands’ lack of sewage treatment or the government’s efforts to eradicate the goats and rats brought by the early settlers, I’ll let you do your own research if you are so inclined.  However, I am hopeful the $100 cash entrance fee to the islands will be put to good use funding the necessary improvements to sustain these unique islands for years in the future.  The Galapagos Islands are indeed a true wonder and great experience for the many who get to visit them.

 

5 thoughts on “Blue-Footed Booby and Friends

  1. thank you so much for sharing! The photos are extraordinary!! I think that nest is very visible from above. I guess they are flyers and divers.

  2. The Blue Footed Booby has always been a favorite of mine that I will in all likely hood only see in photographs. Thanks for sharing. Now off to see your Marine Iguana images.

  3. i am obsessed with these birds, and was wondering what time of year you went so that you saw their dance? did it take a lot of waiting?

    great post!

    • We were there in late July. There certainly is some waiting but more like 15-20 minutes, not hours. If you travel on a large ship you may simply be marched through the area. Then you would be depending upon luck. Go with the smallest boat you can. Everybody must be off the islands at sunset. Due to a more or less constant climate, I’m not sure how seasonal their dance is. Good luck.

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