Galapagos Islands information

Every island in the Galapagos is different one from the other and all this is due to how they were formed. If the 4,600 million years of Earth´s history will be simulated in 24 hours, the Galapagos Islands had been formed in the last two minutes of that day. The 19 islands and 219 islets were created by successive volcanic eruptions over a hot spot located on the seafloor of the Nazca Plate. The first of them emerged in the middle of the Pacific Ocean about 5 million years ago. The islands are settled on the Nazca Plate and move about 5 centimeters a year eastward. That is why the oldest islands of the archipelago are far about 200 kilometers east from the youngest islands that are still above the hot spot.

Explore the Enchanted Islands

1) Isabela Island. 2) North Seymour Island. 3) South Plaza Island. 4) Santa Fe Island. 5) Santa cruz Island. 6) Bartolome Island. 7) Mosquera Island. 8) Santiago Island. 9) Rabida Island. 10) Floreana Island. 11) Genovesa Island. 12) Española Island. 13) San Cristobal Island. 14) Fernandina Island.

Flamingo - Landbirs | Galapagos Islands Animals and Wildlife

The Galapagos flamingo is a large species of flamingo closely related to the greater and Chilean flamingo. It was formerly considered conspecific with the greater flamingo, but that treatment is now widely viewed as incorrect (for example, by the American and British Ornithologists’ Union) due to a lack of evidence.

It is also known as the Caribbean flamingo, inhabitants of salty lakes where they can find their food between the mud with their special curved beaks. Their plumage is pink thanks to their shrimp diet which is high in carotenoids. The more shrimp they eat, the pinker they become, having some specimens a paler tone.

They reproduce all year long by not having a specific mating season. Their nest is built high up on mud walls or columns in order to protect the egg from floods that may occur on the ground. Both parents take care of the egg, which will hatch in about 35 days and is born with gray to white plumage. Chicks are fed with pigeon-like milk containing prolactin that is high in nutrients and red and white cells until they can feed on solids.

A flamingo lifespan can reach up to 50 years.