Cataloging the species on Floreana

By Luis Ortiz-Catedral

We had an exciting start of 2011 here in Floreana. Three weeks ago, a team of scientists and field staff from the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) joined forces to start a biodiversity assessment of Floreana Island and its islets. In a nutshell, the project aims to produce a detailed catalogue of all the species of plants, lichens, birds, mammals, reptiles, molluscs and arthropods present in over 40 plots. These plots were chosen using remote imaging techniques and include all the habitat types found on Floreana. All the information gathered is of the utmost importance to the Floreana Mockingbird Project, as it will help us identify the most promising sites to establish new populations of mockingbirds, taking into account the birds’ current status and the degree of management these sites would need to meet the needs of the “cucuves” (the Spanish name for the mockingbirds).

Medium-tree finch (Camarhynchus pauper) a Critically Endangered species endemic to Floreana Island.

The fieldwork to assess the biodiversity of Floreana is over now, after walking nearly 200km! During these long walks we accessed some remote areas of the islands thanks to a narrow network of tracks prepared by the Floreana field staff of CDF. These guys have amazing bush skills and kept the team in good spirits by making jokes, playing some Ecuadorian radio hits and applying nicknames to all of us. Some of these nicknames include “huevo frito” (fried egg), “zayapa” (red crab), “Chuck Norris” and “chango” (monkey). Of course I was not excused from the wit, so from now on, I am known as “Cucuvero cabeza pelada” or “Shaven-head mockingbird-man”.

Also, we headed out to Gardner Islet last week, where the current largest population of mockingbirds remains. Accompanying me this time was Tony Nahrung a volunteer vet. Tony helped us assess the current health status of the mockingbirds. We continued with trapping and colour-ringing mockingbirds, which will allow us to identify breeding pairs and family groups during the approaching breeding season. Although the general pattern of breeding of mockingbirds is known, we aim to understand the nesting behaviour and productivity on Gardner in detail to determine what would be the most reasonable number of mockingbirds to take during future translocations without significantly affecting the remaining populations.

There has been a little bit of rain recently and some plants seem to have responded to it, by producing an impressive amount of flowers. In particular, the Opuntia cacti are blossoming. Everywhere we’ve noticed mockingbirds feeding on the nectar of these bright yellow flowers. Also, the “palo santo” (Bursera) trees have started producing leaves. So, gradually everything is turning from dusty grey to a lush green.