Masked Booby

Sula dactylatraOrder: PELECANIFORMES Family: Booby and Gannets (Sulidae)

Codes: Common Name: MABO Scientific Name: SULDAC ITIS Taxonomic No.: 174699

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Masked Booby: Large seabird with white body, black trailing edge on wings, pointed black tail. Head has black mask and long, pointed, yellow bill. Legs and feet are yellow-gray. Plunge dives from 40 feet for small squid and flying fish. Alternates strong rapid wing beats with glides.

Range and Habitat

Masked Booby: Breeds in Bahamas and West Indies, and on other islands in tropical Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Rare visitor to coasts of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, and in Gulf Stream to the Carolinas. Pelagic, only comes ashore to breed.

Topo Map: Gull-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

Generally silent

Interesting Facts

The masked booby is the largest of the booby family.

They lack a brood patch and instead incubates with their feet.

Although it often lays two eggs, it never raises two young. The first egg is laid four to nine days before the second, and the older chick always ejects the second from the nest.

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

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Yury Lisyak

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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.

Masked Booby

● Song: Generally silent

● Foraging & Feeding: Masked Booby: Eats primarily fish and squid; forages by plunge diving, sometimes from as high as 40 feet and to depths of 6 to 10 feet underwater.

● Breeding & nesting: Masked Booby: One or two chalky white eggs are laid in a shallow ground depression with a slight rim of pebbles. Incubation ranges from 38 to 49 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Masked Booby: Nazca Booby has an orange bill. Red-footed Booby is smaller, has white tail, white inner secondaries, pink facial skin, and red legs.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several deep flaps with glides.

Masked Booby Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Masked Booby: Breeds in Bahamas and West Indies, and on other islands in tropical Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Rare visitor to coasts of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, and in Gulf Stream to the Carolinas. Pelagic, only comes ashore to breed.

^BreedingMonogamous, Colonial

^PopulationYes but uncommon

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight51.2 Ounces

Gull-like Body

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

Masked Booby

Related Birds

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Range and Habitat

Topo Map: Gull-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

Interesting Facts

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Artist

Masked Booby

Flight Pattern