Genovesa
One of the questions we are frequently asked, as Galapagos naturalists, is when the best time of year to visit this faraway, mysterious place is. I have pondered this question in depth, and have come to one conclusion: it is impossible to define a single best time, as every season has it’s highlights, and I look forward to each one in turn.
The hot season is undoubtedly the best time to visit this particular island though, as it is home to a large colony of great frigatebirds, which are in the throes of their courtship displays at this time. These birds are not always very popular amongst our guests, as their cruel behavior towards their winged neighbors is often considered reprehensible. These magnificent seabirds have an atrophied preen gland, making them unable to waterproof their plumage, as a result they are doomed if they land on water. This has led them to develop a large range of alternative feeding strategies. The long, hooked beak enables them to efficiently surface feed, scooping up prey or leftovers from the sea. They have scavenging habits, getting food from myriad different sources: sea turtle and sea bird hatchlings, scraps left over by fishermen and sea lions, and many more creative means of eking out a living.
The most spectacular of these is their habit of “cleptoparasitism” – they steal food from other birds, in mid air! Tropicbirds, gulls, and boobies are returning to their hungry chicks with a full crop, when out of the blue a menacing black shape hovers over them. Frigate birds have the largest wingspan to body weight ratio of any other bird in the world, in fact when seen from below they seem little more than a giant set of wings and tail. They can out-maneuver any other bird and catch them by the wings or tail, shaking them in mid-air until their terrified victim regurgitates the food stored in its crop, in an effort to lighten its load and thus facilitate a getaway. This is just what the clever frigates were counting on. They drop their prey in order to swoop down and catch their booty – though they then have to try and get away from all the other frigates that have flown into the area attracted by the activity, as their nasty habits extend to members of their own species too!
One of the questions we are frequently asked, as Galapagos naturalists, is when the best time of year to visit this faraway, mysterious place is. I have pondered this question in depth, and have come to one conclusion: it is impossible to define a single best time, as every season has it’s highlights, and I look forward to each one in turn.
The hot season is undoubtedly the best time to visit this particular island though, as it is home to a large colony of great frigatebirds, which are in the throes of their courtship displays at this time. These birds are not always very popular amongst our guests, as their cruel behavior towards their winged neighbors is often considered reprehensible. These magnificent seabirds have an atrophied preen gland, making them unable to waterproof their plumage, as a result they are doomed if they land on water. This has led them to develop a large range of alternative feeding strategies. The long, hooked beak enables them to efficiently surface feed, scooping up prey or leftovers from the sea. They have scavenging habits, getting food from myriad different sources: sea turtle and sea bird hatchlings, scraps left over by fishermen and sea lions, and many more creative means of eking out a living.
The most spectacular of these is their habit of “cleptoparasitism” – they steal food from other birds, in mid air! Tropicbirds, gulls, and boobies are returning to their hungry chicks with a full crop, when out of the blue a menacing black shape hovers over them. Frigate birds have the largest wingspan to body weight ratio of any other bird in the world, in fact when seen from below they seem little more than a giant set of wings and tail. They can out-maneuver any other bird and catch them by the wings or tail, shaking them in mid-air until their terrified victim regurgitates the food stored in its crop, in an effort to lighten its load and thus facilitate a getaway. This is just what the clever frigates were counting on. They drop their prey in order to swoop down and catch their booty – though they then have to try and get away from all the other frigates that have flown into the area attracted by the activity, as their nasty habits extend to members of their own species too!
