Galapagos Hawk (Buteo galapagoensis), showing no fear of our approach
Photographed at Puerto Egas on Santiago Island, Galápagos Island, Ecuador
Day 4 of the Galápagos trip
Of all the wildlife I hoped to see in the Galápagos Islands, the Galápagos Hawk was the one about which I was most concerned. My wife and I both love raptors and it was a relief for us to have several sightings of Galápagos Hawks on our first day ashore. This particular bird was the first individual hawk that we saw that day and, like other wildlife on the Galápagos Islands, it showed no fear at all as we approached to view and photograph it. As it happened, that day on Santiago Island was the first and last day to see these impressive birds on the entire trip.
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From Wikipedia:
Description: The Galapagos hawk (Buteo galapagoensis) is a large hawk endemic to many of the Galapagos Islands.
The Galapagos hawk is similar in size to the red tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) and the Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) of North America, but the size is variable across the islands as is recorded for many animals native to the Galapagos. They appear to be somewhat more heavily built than those well known mainland species, and going on average weights, this species is the second heaviest Buteo in the Americas, behind only the ferruginous hawk.
Status:
Although the exact number of these birds is unknown, there are believed to be only around 150 mating pairs in existence today. This statistic has improved slightly from past years, but it is far from the abundance they were found in on all the islands of Galápagos when they were discovered. Due to human disturbance to their natural habitat, a dwindling food supply because of new predators introduced to the islands, and predation by humans, they are now extinct on the islands of Baltra, Daphne, Floreana, San Cristobal, and Seymour.
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