The Galápagos Islands rolled out the red carpet to welcome back five types of finches as efforts to restore the natural ecology of the archipelago bear fruit. Floreana Island in the East Pacific Ocean is listed as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International, a non-governmental organisation, which conserves bird populations and their habitats. A successful campaign to eliminate invasive species like rats, mice and feral cats was undertaken from October-December 2023 on the island to pave the way for the eventual reintroduction of 12 locally extinct species. Finches play an essential role in the island’s ecosystem, acting as pollinators, seed dispersers and controlling insect populations. They are one of the creatures said to have inspired Charles Darwin’s seminal book on natural evolution, “On the Origin of Species.”

A number of the 510 finches were fitted with radio transmitters to monitor their movements in real-time.