In large, deep beaks, it’s active sooner ... This mismatch may happen if, for example, a cactus finch takes over a medium ground finch nest and dumps out all the eggs to lay its own–but ...

The island’s vegetation is sparse. Herbs, cactus bushes and low trees provide food for finches—small, medium and large ground finches, as well as cactus finches—and other birds. The Grants ...

A small ground finch builds a nest on Santa Cruz Island ... But after molting several times, the avian vampire flies become large, plump maggots that are strong enough to drill into the chicks ...

In the harsh environment of the tiny Galápagos island Daphne Major, the medium ground finch subsists mainly on small seeds. Members of the population with sufficiently large beaks, however ...

Within the space of a few generations, the bird evolved a larger but shorter beak better suited to cracking large seeds. The ground finch is one of at least 15 species of Galapagos finch descended ...