Birds and Mammals of the Galapagos

The most complete and updated field guide to the birds and mammals of the Galapagos. The Galapagos archipelago is one of the most famous destinations on Earth for lovers of natural history. Straddling the equator in the Pacific Ocean about 1000 km west of Ecuador lies 'the world’s natural laboratory' with its large radiations of mockingbirds and Darwin’s finches. These remote islands, colonized by diverse and fearless wildlife, have become a magnet for birders and general naturalists alike. With 33 endemic bird species plus 12 endemic subspecies, and six endemic mammals, the Galapagos captivates all who visit.

This comprehensive field guide covers all of the birds and mammals known to occur, providing the latest insights on field identification and taxonomy for challenging groups such as pelagic birds, Darwin’s finches, and cetaceans. The Galapagos is also known for its vagrants, which too are covered in detail, including several new records not published previously. A separate section is dedicated to hypothetical and potential species to further promote exploration of these unique islands.

Taxonomy follows the HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World and the Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of the World. Detailed texts cover status, habitat and behaviour, age, sex and geographical variation, and confusion species, as well as voice for birds.

Highlighted Features

• More than 660 illustrations covering all species and distinctive subspecies, males and females, birds in flight, juveniles and non-breeding plumages, where appropriate.
• More than 110 full-colour range maps for all species except cetaceans and vagrant birds and mammals.
• For birds, well-marked subspecies groups receive full accounts, and the distributions of subspecies breeding in the region are clearly mapped.
• QR code for every bird species, linked to complementary audiovisual material.
• Comprehensive field guide to the birds and mammals of the Galapagos.
• Taxonomy based on the HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World.
• Detailed texts on status, habitat, behaviour, geographical variation, and voice of birds.
• Section dedicated to vagrants and new species not previously published.