The heat comes from the fields of lava covered by grassy vegetation; the heat also comes from the perfectly clear and sunny sky. We feel the plenitude of being on the equator: humidity and warmth. However we walk. Through the cat's claw trees and ferns of all colors, we walk. This is living la vida Galapagos . These are the highlands of Santa Cruz Island in the warm season. The high temperature does not perturb anyone because we have a goal: to find giant tortoises and indigenous birds.
Our courage was rewarded! We indeed saw several huge Galapagos tortoises. I had read that only the males, when mating, produced sound. But we heard one enormous tortoise emitting a loud hiss, and it was not breeding.
Then the vermilion flycatchers appeared, male and female. Tree finches, small ground finches, warbler finches. Sightings that prepared us for the big act, what many visitors wish to see, but only few are lucky enough to eyewitness. In a tree, at 4 feet from us there was a woodpecker finch, the most intriguing Darwin finch, using a twig to grab insects. One of the few species on earth that employs an instrument for extracting its prey. A most surprising fact is that this behavior seems to be learnt and not inherited. Not all of the woodpecker finches make use of the tool. Ours did.
It took the finch about 10 minutes to find the appropriate twig. He first caught a too little one, the next was too curved, but the last one was just perfect. From time to time, the finch kept the stick under a foot while probing into the wood. He worked hard, therefore he got what he wanted, one big insect. It did not care that we watched from so close distance. He spent another couple of minutes eating the prey. Then it flew away. We enthusiastically clapped; we had seen a woodpecker finch using its tool.
Finch drawing from "Galapagos a living laboratory of evolution" by SPNG and ECCD.
