A Pair of Blue Footed Boobies, Galapagos
by Venetia Featherstone-Witty
Title
A Pair of Blue Footed Boobies, Galapagos
Artist
Venetia Featherstone-Witty
Medium
Photograph - Photographs
Description
The blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) is a marine bird native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Pacific Ocean. It is one of six species of the genus Sula known as boobies. It is easily recognizable by its distinctive bright blue feet, which is a sexually selected trait. Males display their feet in an elaborate mating ritual by lifting them up and down while strutting before the female. The female is slightly larger than the male and can measure up to 90 cm (35 in) long with a wingspan of up to 1.5 m (5 ft)
The natural breeding habitats of the blue-footed booby are the tropical and subtropical islands of the Pacific Ocean. It can be found from the Gulf of California down along the western coasts of Central and South America down to Peru. Approximately one half of all breeding pairs nest on the Galapagos Islands. Its diet mainly consists of fish, which it obtains by diving and sometimes swimming underwater in search of its prey. It sometimes hunts alone, but usually hunts in groups.
A blue footed booby on the Galapagos Islands.
The blue-footed booby usually lays one to three eggs at a time. The species practices asynchronous hatching, in contrast to many other species whereby incubation begins when the last egg is laid and all chicks hatch together. This results in a growth inequality and size disparity between siblings, leading to facultative siblicide in times of food scarcity.This makes the blue-footed booby an important model for studying parent-offspring conflict and sibling rivalry.
Concerns of a decline in the booby population of the Galapagos Islands prompted a research project in its cause. The project, completed in April 2014, confirmed the population decline. The blue-footed booby population appears to having trouble breeding and thus is slowly declining. The decline is feared to be long-term, but annual data collection is needed for a firm conclusion that this is not a normal fluctuation.
FEATURED 3/30/17 in "Animals - Photos Only"
FEATURED 3/31/17 in "Images That Excite You"
FEATURED 3/31/17 in "A Birding Group - Wings"
FEATURED 3/31/17 in "Birds in Focus"
FEATURED 4/1/17 in "Kingdom Animalia"
FEATURED 4/4/17 in "FAA Portraits - Birds"
FEATURED 4/6/17 in "All About Nature and the Animals"
FEATURED 4/7/17 in "Wildlife One A Day"
FEATURED 6/30/17 in "The World We See"
FEATURED 7/3/17 in "Wild Birds of the World"
FEATURED 10/30/19 in "Your Very Best Photography"
FEATURED 9/28/20 in "Macro Marvels"
FEATURED 9/29/20 in "10 Plus"
FEATURED 5/28/21 in "Beautiful Birds"
FEATURED 6/21/21 in "500 Views"
Uploaded
March 30th, 2017
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Comments (15)
James Brunker
Nice shot, these are always fun to watch!
Venetia Featherstone-Witty replied:
Thank you James. Sadly we were not allowed on the land like some people, so this photo had to be taken with a telephoto from the boat!
George Bostian
Great capture ...I'm glad you shared this with us Venetia, If I seen one of these and asked someone what kind of bird it was I would have thought they were kidding me. l/f
Venetia Featherstone-Witty replied:
Thanks George - I had the same reaction before I actually saw them! Thanks for the L/F
William Tasker
I'm so glad you have brought this bird to us for us to enjoy. I have fallen in love with them! Great shot! Your beautiful image has been featured by Wild Birds Of The World. L/F
Robyn King
Congratulations your beautiful work is being featured in The World We See Group:-)
Venetia Featherstone-Witty replied:
Welcome back Robyn - and thank you for the feature in "The World We See"
Venetia Featherstone-Witty
Thank you Scott for featuring Blue Footed Boobies in "FAA Portraits - Birds"
Don Columbus
Congratulations Venetia, your work is Featured in "Birds In Focus" I invite you to place it in the group's "2017 Featured Image Archive" Discussion!! L/Tweet