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Red-footed Booby

Sula sulaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Booby and Gannets (Sulidae)
Codes: Common Name: RFBO Scientific Name: SULSUL ITIS Taxonomic No.: 174707
Least Concern
 
Red-footed Booby Breeding Male
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Overview

Red-footed Booby: The black-tailed white-morph is a small booby with white head, body, tail. Pale blue face has pink-based, pale blue bill. Flight feathers are black. Bright red legs, feet. Brown form is brown overall with darker flight feathers. Strong steady wing beats with glides.

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.

Topo Map: Gull-like Body


Listen to Call

Voice Text

Generally silent

Interesting Facts

 The Red-Footed Booby has no brooding patch (bare skin on the underbelly) to keep their eggs warm. They use their webbed feet, which have an increased blood supply.

 The Red-footed Booby is one of the few seabirds who build their nests in small trees and shrubs. Since there are no predators on most islands where it breeds, this trait probably developed to avoid competition for nesting territory with larger booby species.

 A group of boobies are collectively known as a "congress", "hatch", and "trap" of boobies.


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Splitbar
Range Map for Red-footed Booby

Related Birds

American White Pelican
Red-throated Loon
Red-tailed Tropicbird
Blue-footed Booby
Masked Booby
Brown Booby
Northern Gannet
.
Family Booby and Gannets (Sulidae)_blue
Species Sula sula
Length26 - 28 Inches
Wingspan56.5 Inches

Red-footed Booby

Red-footed Booby: The black-tailed white-morph is a small booby with white head, body, tail. Pale blue face has pink-based, pale blue bill. Flight feathers are black. Bright red legs, feet. Brown form is brown overall with darker flight feathers. Strong steady wing beats with glides.

● Song: Generally silent

● Foraging & 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.

● Breeding & 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.

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

Flight Pattern

Graceful., Strong, steady wing beats with glides.
Red-footed Booby Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & 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.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationCasual
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight33.6 Ounces
Gull-like BodyX
FaceX
The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.
Flight feathersX
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.
PelagicX
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 codesX

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.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX