Everything about The Red-footed Booby totally explained
The
Red-footed Booby,
Sula sula, is a large
seabird of the
gannet family,
Sulidae. They are powerful and agile fliers, but they're clumsy in takeoffs and landings.
Description
It's the smallest of all
boobies, at 71 cm in length and a 137 cm wingspan. It has red legs, and the bill and throat pouch are coloured pink and blue. This species has two plumage forms. The white phase is basically white with black on the flight feathers. The brown form is brown with a white belly rump and tail. Both forms may occur together, as in the breeding colony on
St. Giles Island, Tobago.
The sexes are similar, and young birds are greyish with browner wings and pink legs.
Breeding
This species breeds on islands and isn't in most tropical oceans. It
winters at sea, and is therefore rarely seen away from the breeding colonies. It nests in large colonies, laying one chalky blue egg in a stick nest in a tree, which is incubated by both adults for 44-46 days. It may be three months before the young first fly, and five months before they make extensive flights.
Red-footed Booby pairs may remain together over several seasons. They perform elaborate greeting rituals, including harsh squawks and the male’s display of his blue throat.
Diet
Red-footed Boobies are spectacular divers, plunging into the ocean at high speed to catch prey. They mainly eat small
fish or
squid which gather in groups near the surface.
Gallery
Image:Redfootbooby06.jpg|Flying
Image:Red-footed booby.jpg|White morph on Palmyra Atoll
Image:Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) -adult on nest with chicks.jpg|Adult and chicks on nest in a tree
Image:Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) -perching in tree.jpg|Red-footed Booby perching in a tree
Further Information
Get more info on 'Red-footed Booby'.
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