Floreana Island

The coastline of Floreana encompasses beaches, rocky shores, mangrove lagoons, and tidal flats that provide magnificent habitats for herons, flamingos, ducks, stilts, oystercatchers, and some migrant species of shorebirds. A small group of flamingos feeding quietly and moving gracefully through a brackish lagoon is a most peaceful sight. Some five hundred of these attractive pink birds are found in the salty lagoons around the archipelago. The rich mud of these waters is the habitat of water boatmen (Trychocorixa reticulata) and a shrimp (Artemia salina). These two species, as well as minute crabs, are found in the organic "ooze" which forms the main food of the flamingos in the Galapagos. Another beautiful bird that is often found alongside the flamingos is the black-necked stilt. This graceful black and white bird (Himantopus himantopus) is a commonly seen resident of the lagoons. It is tall and slim with long, thin legs and has a thin, straight, black bill with which it probes the mud for food.