Well, I have about three batches of photos left, so by Monday we’ll be kaput. I’m very sad that readers aren’t stepping up, but this seems to be part of the senescence of this website.
Here’s a third batch (of three) by reader Ephraim Heller taken in the Galápagos (#1 is here and #2 is here). More birds today, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Captions and IDs by Ephraim. and I request readers’ help with those species that aren’t identified.
One of the 18 species of Galápagos finches studied by Darwin [JAC: readers’ IDs welcome]
Galápagos flycatcher (Myiarchus magnirostris) . Another common endemic species.
American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber):
Unidentified bird collecting nesting material:
Great blue heron (Ardea herodias) consenting to a close up shot.
Self-explanatory photos of swallow-tailed gulls (Creagrus furcatus):
Nazca booby (Sula granti). Per Wikipedia:
Siblicide has been well studied in this species; the first chick is born around five days before the second and is larger and stronger by the time the second is born. It drags its younger sibling out of the nest. Field experiments in the Galapagos demonstrated that the boobies can manage to feed two chicks without too much difficulty. This raises questions as to the origin of the phenomenon.
Nazca booby regurgitating food for its chick (who has presumably murdered its sibling):
I enjoy this part and always read it. I just don’t have the quality of pictures of wildlife that is shown here.
Love these pictures. I wish I had something of value to contribute, but I don’t. A couple of years ago I submitted some baby bunny pictures taken in our yard. Those are my only claim to fame.
Thank you, Ephraim, these are super! (PS, like many others, though I would be happy to contribute, I simply do not HAVE photos to send.)
Wow – the heron eye expression is exquisite.
These are lovely! The heron headshot is stunningly clear and detailed, and I also like the red eyes of those sex-crazed seagulls.
I sigh each time Jerry asks for photos, particularly if I have just returned from my meadows, woods, and ponds. When I intend to be walking I always get sidetracked by some plant or animal, insect or snake, lichen or fungus. Alas, I haven’t a camera–not even on my rugged, MIL-SPEC flip phone! I’ve contemplated upgrading to the late 20th century, but nobody would want to see my amateurish photos with (undoubtedly) misidentified flora and fauna. Like many here, I’m so glad that there are at least a handful of regular, highly-skilled contributors.
Lovely photos! For anyone who hasn’t read it already and might be in need of a light summer read, “The Beak of the Finch” by Jonathan Weiner (Pulitzer prize 1995) is a delightful short book about natural selection observed in real time by Peter and Rosemary Grant on the small island of Daphne Major in the Galapagos. Years of severe drought and others of flooding rains change the availability of seeds of different sizes and hardness and thus the selection pressure on Galapagos ground finches, specifically, the size of their beaks (not really finches by the way, more closely related to tanagers, specifically the grassquit). The Grants have written several larger tomes themselves.
There is also a short video produced by Sean Carroll summarizing their work:
https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/origin-species-beak-finch
These are special pictures, Ephraim. The second born Nazca booby does not even look like a bird to my untrained eyes The first swallow-tailed gull shot is great. I’m partial to the little black finch. He’s a cutey. With respect to contributing, I take really lousy photographs. Sorry.