Photographing the Galapagos – Birds Beyond Boobies

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I have been considering the Galapagos boobies again and while undoubtably there is an attraction to photographing boobies, there are plenty of other birds to photograph. In fact, the Galapagos is home to 164 species of birds and an amazing number of them are only found on the islands. There are 26 endemic species in the Galapagos.

I have quite a ways to go, on this last trip I only managed to photograph 19 bird species. Since I don’t think of myself as a birder and don’t keep life lists like a birder. I do however, keep track of the bird species I’ve photographed. I am now at about 350. It’s too bad that I don’t keep a birder style list, because I did see one of the world’s rarest birds, the Floreana Mockingbird.

Here are a few more of the birds that I photographed on the trip.

Hood Mockingbird, Galapagos Dove, Brown Noddy, Greater Flamingo, Medium Ground Finch Galapagos Flycatcher, Brown Pelican, Yellow-crowned Night-heron and Red-billed Tropicbird.

: Brown Noddy, Anous stolidus. Also Common Noddy

: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis

: Galapagos Dove, Zenaida galapagoensis

: Galapagos Flycatcher, Myiarchus magnirostris

: Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber

: Hood Mockingbird, Mimus macdonaldi

: Medium Ground Finch, Geospiza fortis

: Red-billed Tropicbird, Phaethon aethereus

: Yellow-corwned Night-heron, Nyctanassa violacea

Collective Nouns

You know I can’t manage a bird photography post without talking about collective nouns! So let’s see what we have.

Mockingbirds are loaded with good ones! There is an exactness, an echo, an impression, a plagiary, a precision and a ridicule. I think that simply a mime, should also be considered. If we went pretty far out that there would a collective noun be a “Rich Little” of or a “Don Rickles” of Mockingbirds. Let me know what you think!

Flamingos are also blessed with an abundance of good collective nouns, A group of flamingos has many collective nouns, including a colony, a flamboyance, a flurry, a regiment, and stand of flamingos. I’m not so sure about a flurry because I never see them move very quickly. I would add a stilt!

Doves are a cote, a bevy and a piteousness! What the… Ok, not really a fan of any of these. I am thinking it should be Coo of Doves. Not my best effort!

Flycatchers have a big selection as well and I’m not a fan of any of these, an outfield, a swatting, a zapper, and a zipper. They all seem like obscure baseball reference. How about a strip of flycatchers! You’ll have to be of a certain vintage to sort that one out and no, it has nothing to do with any of the boobies!

The Noddy’s actually have their own seperate nouns from the usual ones for a tern. A sleepiness, a niddle and an affirmation. OK, I am going to keep niddle, because a niddle of noddy’s is too weird. Go ahead and say it out loud!