Galapagos Island coastal birds - birdlife
The coast of the Galapagos serves as home to a diverse group of shore birds, waders, waterfowl and lagoon birds. These birds are capable of long distance flights and are often migratory, they do not feed out at sea. Instead, they find food between the tides, in coastal lagoons, and in ponds near to the highland areas of certain Islands.
Greater Flamingos
Galapagos shore birds - flamingos
The Greater Flamingo arrived from the Caribbean and is the 
most
impressive and colorful of all the lagoon and shore birds. It is also
one of the endangered of the species in the islands. Introduced
carnivores, like cats and dogs, can easily feed on the chicks.
The flamingos live in small numbers in the brackish waters of lagoons dotted around several of the islands. Their bright pink colouring stands out against the dark background of volcanic lava. It is thought that fewer than 500 flamingos are now present on Galapagos. Unlike much wildlife on the islands, these birds are nervous and will normally only be viewed in the distance. They will often desert their nests if disturbed
Oystercatchers
Galapagos birdlife - shore birds Oystercatchers
These birds feed on crustaceans and molluscs and are also able to open crab shells with their strong beaks. 
This
is a distinctive black and white bird with a striking orange bill. It
has a loud shrill call and is frequently both seen and heard around the
shoreline.
Their distintive beak is a hammer and a knife. These handsome looking countershaded waders use their bright beak to stab a bivalve between the shells of many moluscs and slice the strong adductor muscles to get at the meat inside, they also hammer away on the shell of a sea urchin, crab or mollusk.
They patrol the beaches for food and are somewhat approachable, they actually come close tourists. Chicks are often seen trying to get their own food when just a few weeks old. This behaviour is typical of shore birds who are less dependant on parents than sea birds.
Galapagos HeronsGalapagos shore birds, great blue, lava and yellow-crowned night herons
Herons and egrets are long-legged wading birds found over much of the temperate world, and it's no surprise there are six species of herons found in the Galápagos, five of whom are resident. Several of these species are quite familiar to North Americans -- the great blue heron and the great egret in particular. Usually herons feed on small fish or crabs, hence their regular appearance along rivers and coasts. But in the Galápagos, they also prey upon lizards, small iguanas, young birds, and turtle hatchlings. Though large birds, they are sometimes hard to spot: they will stand motionless as a treelimb, patiently waiting for an unsuspecting meal to wander within range of their long, darting neck.
Great Blue Heron
The great blue heron is the largest of the Galapagos herons and can be found nesting on most of the larger islands. It is a fierce and efficient predator and lives of a wide ranch of marine life. It will frequently take the hatchlings of turtles and marine iguana.
Lava Heron
This
dark grey and somewhat sombre looking bird sits motionless on the lava
rockpools around the seashore remaining alert and waiting for prey. It
also feeds on turtle hatchlinngs and marine iguana. It is the only
endemic heron in the Galapagos.
Striated heron
(Ardeola
striata), a slightly more distinctly marked bird with pale neck and
breast with a black cap; the lava heron is almost entirely slate gray,
ideal camouflage against the basaltic rocks of the islands. The
scientific jury is still out on whether these are distinct species, or
whether the more well-adapted lava heron is an evolutionary descendant
of the emigrant striated.
Yellow-crowned night heron
(Nyctanassa violacea),
quite common along waterways throughout the Americas. Mainly active at
night, it feeds on insects large and small, and is sometimes seen in
Puerto Ayora catching bugs by the light of streetlamps. Though
primarily a coastal inhabitant, it has been sighted high on the
volcanic slopes of Isabela, where it presumably forages for
grasshoppers and other large insects.
Great egret
(Casmerodius alba) is also found here, though probably as a migrant rather than nesting species. These birds are sometimes mistaken for the Great blue, which also has a white phase.
Cattle egrets
(Bubulcus ibis) are also found, usually in the highlands with introduced cattle herds. Though today a common sight, these smaller white egrets are native to Africa, from which they migrated only in the last century to their current world-wide distribution.
Other Shore Birds
Galapagos Islands shore birds - other species
White-cheeked pintail duck
(Anas bahamensis), Yes there are ducks in the Galapagos
Islands. Also called the Bahama pintail, has a wide range from shore to
highlands, feeding on small birds and insects as well as fresh-water
vegetation in shallow ponds.
Blue-winged teal duck
(Anas discours), a common puddle-duck of North and South America, is less frequently seen here as well.
Common stilt
(Himantopus himantopus), a handsome white-necked bird with white breast and face, and red legs. A resident bird of the low-lying lagoons, like the flamingo and pintail, the stilt probes the mud for food with its narrow black bill.
Semi-palmated plover
A plump shore bird found between August and April. Like most
plovers, the semi-palmated will run for a few steps then stop still,
often peeping to distract attention from its nest.
Ruddy turnstones
An orange-legged shore bird which gains its name from the
feeding habit of looking for intertidal life, is also found in the
winter months between August and March.
Wandering tattlers
A medium sized, yellow legged, mostly grey shore bird. It is
found walking by the rocks searching for food as it bounces up and
down, this movement is called teetering.
Whimbrels
Familiar shore birds whose presence in the Galápagos is a refreshing reminder of the interconnectedness of life on earth. It is quite large and has a long down-curved bill. It has bronw eye-stripes and crown-stripes.
Galapagos Rails
Endemic to the Galapagos Islands, it is a tiny brown bird difficult to spot. It is found in highland vegetation areas.
Common Gallinules
Known as moorhens, it looks like a breed between a chicken, a duck and a shore bird (finally); it is actually a fully aquatic coot-like rail.
Sandpipers
Know as "peeps", they hang out by the shore line. These are whitish small birds. They are a migrant species that breeds in the northern artic region. They have greenish yellow legs and a black bill.
Paint billed crakes
It is a small rail like bird. Somewhat colorful with a red/yellow bill and red legs. Mainly spotted in the highlands.
