Wild Fact #910 – Honey! We Have Guests! – Galapagos Mockingbird
Welcome back from a weekend of family, friends and food! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend and are finally coming off your sugar high. I had a great weekend which included my first Christmas in Whitehorse. I must have been good this year as Santa didn’t disappoint me. My lucky readers will benefit from my good behaviour. You see, one of my gifts was a book called “Birds, Mammals and Reptiles of the Galapagos Islands” by Andy Swash and Rob Still. I am sure you are all aware how fond I am of the Galapagos Islands so all week I will be sharing information about animals out of this book.
So let’s get to it already! We will start with the Galapagos Mockingbird which is a small bird found only on the famous islands. Unlike most mockingbirds the Galapagos mockingbird does not mimic other animals. As well, this particular bird prefers to run on the ground much more than fly through the air. I would personally take flying over running any day of the week. It is the social structure of this bird that is unique. You see their mating patterns change depending on which sex outnumbers the other. So if there are more males than females then these birds will be monogamous to their mate; however, once there becomes a shift and the females outnumber the males well then it is time for the polygamous party to start. During the polygamous period there will often be joint nesting between the pairs. Imagine explaining to your wife why this other family of yours needs to share the nest!
This is not the only weird feature about the mating rituals of the Galapagos mockingbird. Their breeding seasons are weather dependent. During El Nino events the breeding will increase, however, no breeding will take place during a drought year. The population of Galapagos mockingbirds fluctuate a great deal since the weather is so unpredictable. When was the last time your weather man predicted the weather accurately?
Well I hope you enjoyed the Galapagos Mockingbird! Stay tuned for more Galapagos Island animals throughout the week!
