Galapagos Islands sea birds

The cool, oxygen-rich waters surrounding the Galapagos support an abundant marine flora and fauna which, in turns, support a variety of sea birds. The most obvious and frequently seen sea birds are members of the order Pelecaniformes. In the Galapagos, these include two species of frigate bird, three species of booby, the brown pelican, the red-billed tropicbird and the flightless cormorant

No marine region would be complete without sea gulls (order Charadriiformes) and the Galapagos are no exception. However, there are only two species of gulls, the swallow-tail gull and the lava gull, and both are endemic to the archipelago. Another bird belonging to this order that is commonly seen is the brown noddy tern.

A third order of sea birds found in the Galapagos is the Procellariiformes. This order includes the ubiquitous, but difficult to observe, Audubon shearwater and a variety of storm petrels. It also includes the magnificent waved albatross, which, with its 7-8 foot wingspan is the largest bird in the Galapagos.

The final major order of sea bird represented in the Galapagos, remarkably, is the Sphenisciphromes, the penguins! The sole penguin found on the equator is the endemic Galapagos penguin.