Frigatebird with Pouch

The island of North Seymour was promised as the last big highlight of our Galapagos trip, and it did not disappoint. It's a relatively small island north of Santa Cruz and Baltra (with the airport), so it's always visited near the beginning or end of a tour.

There were many Frigatebirds (mostly magnificent but some great; this is probably a magnificent frigatebird--Fregata magnificens). It is a male displaying its inflated gular sac, which it is an aspect of its courtship and breeding display. You'll notice that the wing and tail feathers are a bit irregular--this is a doubtless a consequence of having to land among bushes to breed and nest--if a frigatebird's long wings get seriously hung up among branches, it may remain grounded and will eventually die.

The other main feature of the island was breeding Blue Boobies, including dramatically extensive courtship dances (I'll try to put something of this up on my website in the next few weeks).

(Backblipped--for an overview, see 20 July)