Bird on Wildlife.blog

Black-headed Gull at Shinobazu Pond, Tokyo

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

A small, elegant gull recognized by its dark chocolate-brown breeding hood, red bill, and pinkish-red legs — this individual’s patchy hood marks the transition between winter and summer plumage.

One of Tokyo’s most familiar winter gulls, abundant at Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park from October through April; the Japanese name ユリカモメ (yurikamome) even lends its name to the city’s waterfront rail line.

Wikipedia | iNaturalist | eBird

Blue-Footed Booby and Galápagos Penguin

Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii)

Famous for its vivid blue feet — the brighter the color, the healthier the bird — which males show off in an elaborate high-stepping courtship dance.

Common throughout the Galápagos Islands year-round, nesting on rocky shores and plunge-diving from height to catch schooling fish.

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Galápagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus)

The world’s only penguin found north of the equator and among the rarest — fewer than 2,000 remain, all endemic to the Galápagos archipelago.

Chicken in a Tree

Red Junglefowl / Feral Chicken (Gallus gallus)

Domestic chickens descend from the Red Junglefowl, and feral populations worldwide revert to ancestral habits like roosting in trees — exactly what this rooster is doing.

Wikipedia | iNaturalist

Galápagos Penguins on the Lava Shore

📍 Isla Isabela, Galápagos Islands

Galápagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus)

The only penguin species found north of the equator, and the rarest penguin in the world — fewer than 2,000 remain, all within the Galápagos archipelago.

Year-round residents of Isla Isabela, which hosts the majority of the global population thanks to the cold, nutrient-rich Cromwell Current that sweeps past the island’s western coast.

Wikipedia | iNaturalist | eBird