Two very special visits

By Luis Ortiz-Catedral (CDF)

Two weeks ago I finally had a chance to see the Floreana Mockingbirds Mimus trifasciatus in their habitat on Champion and Gardner-by-Floreana. During these brief visits I was accompanied by an awesome team composed of keen helpers from the Charles Darwin Foundation, Galápagos National Park and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Our goal was to register every single ringed mockingbird on these two tiny islets off the coast of Floreana to continue with previous efforts aimed at understanding the demography of one of the rarest birds in the world. We also spent some time catching un-ringed birds to measure them and put metal and colour rings that will help us trace their individual lives.

Champion and Gardner-by-Floreana are so fragile and precious that before we set foot on them we had to undergo a stringent quarantine of our packs to prevent the accidental introduction of invasive insects or plants. Within seconds of our landing, the mockingbirds greeted us with inquisitive eyes and calls as if asking: so, what brought you here? We also noticed a couple of juveniles about, which seemed a bit shy around us but approached the party after the adult birds showed no fear in our presence. One of them even landed on me!

Such nosy behaviour comes handy for us, as it allows us to identify their ring combinations and to photograph them to create a catalogue which will help us keep track of these birds. The mockingbirds or “cucuves” in Spanish were busy foraging on cactus flowers, and Cordia fruits as well as insects. From what we observed, centipedes are one of their favourite treats, so we attracted them into potter traps with some tasty-looking artificial lures in the shape of fat centipedes. Besides obtaining an updated estimate of their population size, and ringing new individuals, the trips to Champion and Gardner gave us the chance to start the training of local staff from the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galápagos National Park. We had Milton (Hugho) and Francisco (Moreno Naula) who learned how to identify individual mockingbirds and how to catch them in potter traps. They also shared with us some of their extensive knowledge on the local plants and insects the cucuves were feeding on.

Although the visits to Champion and Gardner were brief, they are certainly two on the most interesting field trips I’ve had in recent times and I look forward for upcoming trips starting January 2011.