Bird name:

Red-footed Booby

Sula sula

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Booby and Gannets (Sulidae)

Code 4

RFBO

Code 6

SULSUL

ITIS

174707

Breeding Location:

Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Forests

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Colonial

Breeding Population:

Casual

Egg Color:

White

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

43 - 49

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Sticks and twigs.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

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General

Red-footed Booby: The black-tailed white-morph is a small booby with white head, body, and tail. Pale blue face has pink-based, pale blue bill. Flight feathers are black. Legs and feet are bright red. Brown form is brown overall with darker flight feathers. Sexes are similar. Juvenile resembles adult brown form but has pink-gray legs and feet.

Range and Habitat

Red-footed Booby: Breeds on tropical islands worldwide, including Caribbean, Galapagos, Indian Ocean; strays to Dry Tortugas off Florida, accidental off Gulf and California coasts. Pelagic, only comes ashore to breed.

Breeding and Nesting

Red-footed Booby: One chalky white egg is laid in a loose nest made of sticks and twigs, built in a tree, shrubs, or thick grass tufts. Incubation ranges from 43 to 49 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Red-footed Booby: Feeds on squid and flying fish; also eats crustaceans and other fish. Plunge dives for most food in deep waters; sometimes catches flying fish in the air.

Vocalization

Red-footed Booby: Usually silent at sea; gives low, throaty, and bray-like chatter on breeding grounds.

Similar Species

Red-footed Booby: Masked Booby has black tail, black inner secondaries, dark facial skin, and gray legs.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Face

The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.

Flight feathers

Located on the wing, and collectively called remiges (singular, remex). The long stiff feathers are subdivided into two major groups based on the location and are called primaries and secondaries.

Pelagic

The pelagic is a type of bird whose habitat is on the open ocean rather than in a coastal region or on inland bodies of water (lakes, rivers). An example of a pelagic bird is the blacklegged kittiwake.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America