Thumbnails: 1 - Booby birds | 2 - Other birds | 3 - Marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot | 4 - Tortoises | 5 - Seals | 6 - Landscapes

A favourite food is fresh young grass, but this is not so common in an arid environment. Another preferred food is the Prickly Pear cactus - Opuntia which has responded, possibly in a counter-evolutionary response to the saddleback tortoises that are able to reach high up, by developing an arborescent (tree-like) form with hard woody branches low near the ground and most of the cactus "pads" higher up where they are less likely to be eaten.

Galapagos Tortoises are often found with small birds - finches - around them or even perched on the shell. A special relationship has evolved between the reptiles and the birds whereby the tortoises allow the finches to eat the ticks and parasites from the tortoise's skin. The bird arrives front of the tortoise to announce its presence and the tortoise stretches out its neck and legs to expose areas where the skin is thinnest and where parasites prefer, the birds then hop about and feed themselves while relieving the tortoise of its irritations in the process.

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