Floreana Mockingbird – the rarest of the 4 Galapagos mockingbirds!

The two very tiny, rocky islets of Champion and Gardner are just off the northeast corner of Floreana and are currently the last two places on Earth to see the critically endangered Floreana Mockingbird! You can’t land on the islets, but by slowly motoring along the rocky shoreline we were treated to excellent views of these striking and rare mockingbirds! Bold brown-black patches on their chests and back make them the most distinctive of the 4 Galapagos mockingbird species. Their population fluctuates dramatically from year to year, with crashes during dry periods and booms during wet periods – sometimes dropping to as few as 20 pairs.

Throughout the day we could hear a helicopter flying transects above Floreana, dropping thousands of blue rodenticide pellets across the island. Hopefully one day Floreana will be rat, cat, and goat free and the mockingbirds will be able to return to their former domain. For now, a few pairs seem content on Isla Champion and they were eager to show off their juvenile to our panga-load of birders! This was a particularly special moment on a very exciting tour!