About the Red-footed Booby
The red-footed booby is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. Adults always have red feet, but the colour of the plumage varies. They are powerful and agile fliers, harnessing the wind to fly efficiently, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings. They forage by catching flying fish from above the ocean's surface and by performing shallow dives. They are found widely in the tropics, and breed colonially in coastal regions, especially isolated islands such as St. Brandon, Mauritius, and the Chagos Archipelago. Although its population is declining, it is considered to be a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It faces threats from…
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The red-footed booby is the smallest member of the booby and gannet family at about 70 cm (28 in) in length and with a wingspan of up to 152 cm (60 in). The average weight of 490 adults from Christmas Island was 837 g (1.845 lb). It has red legs, and its bill and throat pouch are coloured pink and blue. This species has several morphs. In the white morph the plumage is mostly white (the head often tinged yellowish) and the flight feathers are black. The black-tailed white morph is similar, but with a black tail, and can easily be confused with the Nazca and masked boobies.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where the Red-footed Booby lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in United Kingdom, India, France, South Africa, Thailand, Peru, Madagascar, Mayotte, Saudi Arabia, Niue, Turks & Caicos Islands, Bangladesh.
When to see the Red-footed Booby
Peak activity in April · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Blue-footed BoobySula nebouxiiThe blue-footed booby is on average 81 cm (32 in) long and weighs 1.5 kg (3+1⁄4 lb), with the female being slightly larger than the male.
Masked BoobySula dactylatraThe largest species of booby, the masked booby ranges from 75 to 85 cm (30 to 33 in) long, with a 160–170 cm (63–67 in) wingspan and 1.2–2.2 kg (2.6–4.9 lb) weight.
Nazca BoobySula grantiThe species has a yellow iris, orange and pinkish beak, black facial skin in the form of a mask, and grey feet.
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