Birds Of The Galapagos

[Music] most of the birds of the galopagos like many of the other creatures found on these islands are unique not found anywhere else in the world even though they are similar to those found on the mainland yellow warblers one of the few colorful birds found here flit about the lava rocks in search of food they Peck daintily but the herand that stalk the shore gulp theirs most undan [Music] [Music] good thing his neck is a two-way stretch oyster catchers with beaks like Chopsticks have found a rarity in the Galapagos a white sand beach sandwiched between the black rocks that line in the shore the Galapagos have been called many things hell a laboratory of evolution the end of the world Noah's Arc of the Pacific Darwin said that here both in time and space we seem to be brought nearer that mystery of mysteries the first appearance of new beings on earth born of volcanic activity the Galapagos are not as old as one might think datings from lava flows show that most of the islands are less than a million years old whereas the mainland of South America is 42 billion years [Music] old Herman Melville described the galapon landscape as a rested Torrance of tormented lava indeed some of the islands are still almost completely bare of any plants except this phallic Cactus which is a pioneer colonist of Baron flows the islands are the tops of gigantic volcanoes most of which rise for 7 to 10,000 ft above the floor of the sea [Music] [Music] lava tunnels are formed when a flow congeals on the top while a molon stream moves on this one clearly shows the [Music] sidewalls each island is more than a collection of plants and animals it is a community of organisms living together as a unit from the largest to the smallest each dependent upon the other so these islands are not only a laboratory of evolution they are a laboratory of ecology of the delicate balance that exists between organisms and their [Music] environment the cool humble current creat right here on the equator a curious colony of igr from colder climbs Penguins for instance flightless Exiles From A Distant Antarctic home in the remote past a few Birds must have been swept northward by the humbled current the breed that has evolved is small but it clearly reveals its ancestry penguins live beside flamingos the only flamingo those known in the Pacific they are very shy now but unfortunately they have learned too late that man is dangerous they are quite rare almost extinct Darwin's finches are of special interest to scientists because it was these birds that gave Darwin his insight into the Origin of Species he was amazed by the variety of their beaks and reasoned that they must have come from a common ancestor and gone through a long process of development this picture shows the comparative size of the beaks of the 13 species of gpag finches it was clear to Darwin that the birds had found different foods available on different islands and through successive Generations had evolved accordingly for instance on one Island they developed slender beaks for probing flowers on another small beaks for catching insects on another strong thick beaks for cracking seeds and fingers too thus Darwin showed how development occurred by natural means without Supernatural intervention to see the great variety of birds of the Galapagos one must visit several different Islands since each island has its own distinctive bird life [Music] one of the most interesting islands is dapne hardly an island really nothing more than the peak of a volcano that has risen From the Bottom of the Sea to go ashore here requires the agility of a trapes artist sheer Cliffs rise straight from the sea the flat bottom of both craters is the home of thousands of strange birds called blue-footed boobies from here one sees clearly the smaller crater above and the larger one below the blue foots form a dense col colony and no other birds not even other species of boobies in truth the smell heightened by the heat down here in the crater cut off from the breeze plus their rockus voices require a sense of humor to endure perhaps that's why blue-footed boobies are such clowns they're as comical as their name [Music] it looks as though they're mad but more likely this is his Blue-footed way of making love to her this is a bluefoot baby many of the bluef foots have two babies which they nurse to maturity if the food supply is sufficiently abundant if it is not they frequently let one die both parents seem to agree that this is best as they have apparently done here just their way of controlling their population EXP [Music] explosion boobies are plunge divers and feed their babies by regurgitation so when the babies vibrate their necks in this manner it's their way of saying I'm ready for another gation here's a male displaying that's what it's called when he carries on in the strange manner to attract a female then if he's lucky enough to attract one they both join in a head bobbing dance on the rim of the crater there are other birds a dove A Whiter mask booby these cousins of the bluefoot never visit their relatives they stay up here on the rim and leave the floor to the blue [Music] foots this is a swallowtail G photogenic and not at all camera shy since no land mammals managed to get a footing here in the Galapagos until quite recently they are Isles without fear often even without shyness from this point of view this end of the world is a Garden of Eden [Music] a frigate bird on its nest pretty unattractive until you see it in flight and then with a wingspan of 8 ft which is 40% more Wing area than any other seabird of similar weight this ugly duckling becomes the most beautiful thing in the sky they've been cited a thousand miles from land and 4,000 ft high they feed on the wing and specialize in piracy snatching the food from the mouths of other birds [Music] frigates nest in trees or bushes and sometimes on the ground they lay one large white egg about twice the size of a hen's egg here's a male with his red throat sack deflated but when he's courting it's blown up like a big red balloon that's the way he attracts the females [Music] [Music] here's another frig bird with her baby the nest made of dry sticks he's a fairly unstable launching pad for such a big bird baby does not like being left alone especially when a strange looking object sticks a camera in his face [Music] the chicks are dependent on their parents for food for 6 months much longer than any other seabird and since the parents get their food by thieving they usually live near other birds on whom they pray [Music] [Music] at Sombrero Chino on James Island the lava is the blackest black absorbing all the light sharp and difficult to walk on and Hawks hover [Music] overhead there's the reason a young Hawk these birds are usually very tame even friendly but when they think they're young or endangered the whole flock comes to the [Music] [Applause] [Music] rescue they began a nose diving barrage that made any work impossible the baby is on the left the other is the Sentinel [Music] the Hawks put up such a valiant fight the men hadn't the heart to frighten them further they contented themselves with one shot and left some brero Chino to these birds of prey because man's invasions have been infrequent these Enchanted aisles have retained some of their look of Eternity let's hope that that enchantment can be preserved