Galapagos Ground Finch Review

The Galapagos Ground Finch is endemic to these Islands. These birds have strong beaks which are useful for feeding from seeds.

The Galapagos finches eat parasites from the backs of land iguanas, marine iguanas and giant tortoises and they also feed on the eggs of these animal.

There is an interesting finch bird on Wolf Island, it is the Sharp Beaked Ground Finch.

This bird is known as the Vampire Finch because it pecks the flesh of the backs of masked boobies, red footed boobies and blue footed boobies to feed on their blood.


 

Male ground finches are black while the female finches are brownish. There are four species of Galapagos ground finches:

1) Sharp-beaked finch: (Geospiza nebulosa) belong to the highlands of the central and western islands.

This ground finch is called the vampire finch, for its feeding habit of drinking blood from boobies.


2) Small ground finch: (Geospiza fuliginosa) is very common throughout the Galapagos Islands except on Genovesa Island and Darwin Island.


3) Medium ground finch: (Geospiza fortis) can be seen in the major Islands (Isabela, Santa Cruz, San Cristobal) except in the smaller ones like Espaņola or Genovesa.


4) Large ground finch: (Geospiza magnirostris) is less common and can be found only in the bigger Islands.


All these finch species have similar appearance, color and behavior.

It is a real challenge for birdwatchers to differentiate or guess the species to which each Galapagos ground finch belongs.

In total there are 13 species of Galapagos Finches which are classified by groups:

Ground finches, Tree finches, Vegetarian finches, Cactus finches and Mangrove finches.

The size of the Galapagos ground finch as most of other finch species is about 10 to 20 cm.

Finches are similar in appearance but can be identified mainly by the form of their beaks.

It's a fun task to try to identify them after being there a while, though it is not easy, especially with the Galapagos ground finch.

But there are more beautiful birds to look for in Galapagos, like: hawks, flamingos, Lava Gulls, pelicans, blue footed boobies, Nazca Boobies, Great blue herons and more. click here to see all Galapagos birds

More About Galapagos:

Galapagos Recommended Reading

A Guide to the Birds of the Galapagos Islands
It offers unprecedented comprehensive coverage. This field guide presents every species to have been recorded within the archipelago, including accidentals and vagrants.

Twenty eight color plates illustrate the species. Beautiful line drawings, often showing interesting aspects of bird behavior, complement a concise, accessible, and informative text. (Also recommended)

More Galapagos Books and Souvenirs

Web www.galapagos-islands-tourguide.com

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