Giant Tortoises
Land Lizards
Insects
Plant Life
Birds
One of the more pleasant birds to encounter on the islands is the Galápagos dove (Zenaida galapagoensis), a pretty, tame and well-mannered creature. It is reddish brown with black and white markings, touches of incandescent green, red feet and a bright blue eye ring. Its bill is curved downward, larger and more curved than most other doves. Though usually very silent, its low call reminds some of a mourning dove.
Its primary characteristic, however, is its tameness -- pirates from the 18th century told of doves landing on their hats and shoulders, and visitors frequently spot a dove just a few feet away with a curious look in its eye. This tameness has had its price: according to ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson, ten men on Santiago Island ate 39,000 doves in three months. Darwin records meeting a boy armed only with a stick who came to the same water well every day to "procure a little heap of them for dinner."
