The Galapagos Islands are home to amazing birds - blue-footed boobies. They are the only ones in the world who have paws of such an unusual color. In addition to unusual paws, gannets have a number of original features that arouse the constant interest of travelers and researchers.
The blue-footed booby (lat. Sula nebouxii) is a fairly large bird, the size of which reaches up to 80 cm. The life of gannets is inextricably linked with the sea: there they find food for themselves by hunting fish. Gannets hover above the surface of the water and, upon seeing prey, dive down. They dive to a depth of 20-25 meters, and grab prey when they surface. Interestingly, females tend to be larger and heavier than males, which allows them to dive deeper and catch larger fish.
Blue-footed boobies live not only in the Galapagos Islands, but also on the Pacific coast of America: in Peru, Mexico and Ecuador. But on the islands they are most numerous. In general, the number of these birds is quite large, so scientists are not worried about the well-being of the population.
The gannets living on the Galapagos Islands are very naive: they are not at all afraid of people and happily pose for the camera.
The rich blue color of their paws is due to the presence of a coloring pigment - carotenoid. This substance is produced in the body of gannets from lipids that the birds obtain by eating sea fish. Bright, rich color is characteristic of young and healthy birds. It is interesting that if a gannet is deprived of its usual food - sea fish, then in just a couple of days its legs will become pale gray.
The color of the feet is of great importance in the life of birds. They are guided by it when choosing a partner. The brighter and richer the male's paws, the more likely he is to attract the attention of the opposite sex. The courtship of gannets is very interesting. The male performs a special dance, raising his paws high, because this is his main advantage. If he manages to impress, and the female accepts his advances, then later they perform a joint dance.
After a short courtship, the couple builds a nest. It is not complicated or large; as a rule, it is a small depression among stones or directly on the ground. Gannets living on the Galapagos Islands near the equator do not experience the changing seasons, so they breed at any time of the year. The pair manages to hatch one, or less often two, chicks, which is due to the presence of birds of prey and limited food resources. The main enemies of blue-footed boobies are skuas and frigate gulls. It is noteworthy that if a clutch of eggs or chicks were lost as a result of attack by predators, then the gannets lay new eggs, but take care of them more responsibly.
If you are asked, which bird is the most unusual in the world? Surely, such options as penguins, ostriches, or at least bright parrots will come to mind. We will tell you about another amazing bird - the gannet. By the way, translated from Spanish this word means “stupid, clown.” What's clown-like about gannets? Of course, their blue “boots” are actually webbed paws.
Yes, gannets have turquoise legs. If you watch these birds, you get the impression that they are aware of their peculiarity and are proud of it. Indeed, during the courtship dance, the male performs difficult elements: they, swaying funny, alternately raise their beautiful paws, as if demonstrating their amazing color.
However, there is some truth in this. Females really pay attention to the gentlemen with the brightest paw colors.
Color is not the only oddity of gannets' feet. They are also unusually warm. It is with the help of their warm, caring paws that these birds hatch their eggs. The male and female do this alternately, one guards the egg, the other hunts. They literally hug the future baby with warming membranes. At the same time, they reach a temperature of 39 degrees and increase slightly in size.
Before the chick hatches, it will spend 40 days in the egg. After this period, small gannets hatch in the form of small balls of fluff: their adult plumage is depressed. They also warm themselves on their parents' paws.
The gannet is a seabird that lives on tropical and subtropical islands of the ocean. Gannets live in colonies, literally covering the coast with their bright paws. They feed mainly on fish. Membranaceae are excellent fishermen. They look out for their prey, hovering above the surface of the water, and then sharply dive at the fish, sometimes going 20-30 meters deep. However, sometimes they get flying fish, which themselves go to their hunter.
Blue-footed booby (lat. Sula nebouxii) - an inhabitant of warm tropical seas. It breeds on small islands in the Gulf of California, western Mexico and islands off Ecuador and Peru. However, most of all she likes the Galapagos Islands, where more than half of all representatives of the species have their nests: the birds seem to know that here they are protected by law. In total, there are about 40 thousand pairs of blue-footed boobies in the world.
The legs of this bird are not simple at all. Not only are they a rich, bright blue color, which, you see, is unusual in itself, but they are also very warm! Moreover, they are so warm that they allow the bird to warm the eggs, maintaining their temperature at as much as 39 degrees. This is really interesting: all other species of birds warm their clutches with their own bodies, while the blue-footed booby warms them with their paws, in which blood circulation becomes especially intense. Who would have thought that blue legs could be hot.
The bird itself is medium in size - its body length is 70-90 cm and its weight is from 0.7 to 1.5 kg. Moreover, females are larger than males. Pointed wings and tail combined with a long beak give the gannet some angularity. The chest is white, the wings are brown, the head is decorated with light brown streaks, and the tail is brown and white.
Blue legs in males play a significant role during the breeding season, because females prefer partners with bright blue legs, and try to avoid those with blue-gray legs. During courtship, the birds perform a funny dance, shifting from foot to foot, and playfully turning away from each other.
When the ancestors of modern blue-footed boobies built nests long ago, today’s pairs prefer to simply trample a small depression in the ground and fence it off with several branches. There are only 1-2 white eggs in the clutch, however, the bird could not have warmed more with its miraculous legs.
Both parents do incubation for 40 days. When small and naked chicks are born, they do not get off mom or dad’s feet for some time, afraid of freezing. However, soon their bodies become covered with fluff, and the babies quickly gain weight. Over time, the down is replaced by feathers and already at the age of 3.5 months the chicks leave their parental shelter. They will become sexually mature only at 3-4 years of age.
Interestingly, the word “gannet” is translated from Spanish as “stupid” - all because gannets are very trusting and easy to catch. But is it possible to compare gullibility with stupidity? Moreover, gannets are quite smart, in any case, they came up with their own way of getting food.
First, the bird soars in the air, looking for a suitable fish, and then quickly dives down, sometimes diving into a depth of 25 meters. So what, you say, many people can do that. But blue-footed boobies catch fish not during the dive itself, but when they surface. It's just that the fish usually have a dark back, making them difficult to notice, and their bellies are brighter with a shiny silver pattern. The “stupid” gannets have outwitted the sea inhabitants!
And sometimes blue-footed boobies don’t even have to dive: they catch flying fish in the air that carelessly move above the surface of the sea.
The name of the bird species “booby” (English: “booby”) comes from the Spanish “bobo”, which means “stupid” or “funny”, for which there are several explanations. Like many other species of seabirds, gannets are characterized by clumsy and comical movements on land. In addition, birds are extremely trusting, are not at all afraid of humans and easily make contact.
Description of the bird
Gannets are quite large birds. The body length of adult individuals ranges from 70 to 90 cm, the wingspan reaches 1.5-2 m, and the weight is 1.5-2.5 kg. When diving into water, gannets reach speeds of up to 140 km/h. In this case, the impact on the surface of the water is softened by special air sacs, which are located under the scalp.
The body of gannets is oval in shape, the neck is of medium length, the tail is short and blunt. The wings are long and narrow, making the birds resilient in flight. The legs are carried back, the paws are webbed. Small teeth are located along the edges of the sharp, straight beak, which gannets use to breathe, since their nasal openings are covered with feathers so as not to interfere with the birds' diving. The eyes of gannets are located in front, next to the beak, and their vision is binocular. This allows the bird to see three-dimensional objects and accurately determine the location of prey.
The main colors in the plumage of this species are white and black (occasionally dark brown). The plumage fits tightly to the body. The feet are usually dark or red, except for the blue-footed booby, whose feet are bright blue.
Thus, thanks to their unique physique, gannets are excellent fliers, swimmers, and divers.
The basis of the diet of gannets is fish, especially flying fish, as well as cephalopods. The bird's favorite delicacy is squid and fish from the herring family (sardines, herring, anchovies).
Gannets can dive for prey from a height of 10 to 30 m above the sea surface. At first, they carefully look out for their prey, looking forward, thanks to their eyes located in the front. And then they dive sharply down and dive for fish. Gannets can stay underwater for up to 40 seconds. Birds hunt both in groups and alone.
Sometimes gannets chase their relatives who are carrying fish in their beaks and take them away. Gannets can also take prey from other bird species.
When hunting, gannets often use the help of other animals. So, they can monitor whales and dolphins as they catch schools of fish. While the former press the school to the surface of the water, the gannets attack it from above. Thus, with their joint efforts, the sea inhabitants destroy almost all the fish in the school.
Bird distribution
The habitats of various types of gannets cover the entire globe, and are located mainly in the equatorial and tropical zones. These birds inhabit ocean and sea coasts, and their largest concentrations are seen on the tropical islands of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, as well as along the coast of California, South Africa, and the Galapagos Islands.
Southern populations of gannets are sedentary, while those living in the temperate zone are usually migratory.
Gannets are gregarious birds; they form huge colonies numbering several tens of thousands of individuals.
Common types of gannet
An adult bird is from 65 to 75 cm in length, its weight is from 0.9 to 1.5 kg. The wingspan reaches 150 cm.
The body is streamlined, typical of gannets. The beak is long and sharp.
The species is distributed in the tropical zone of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. Rarely appears over land. Breeding colonies are located on tropical islands, far from the coast of the mainland, on atolls.
The body length of the red-footed booby reaches 70 cm, the wingspan is 1.5 m. The plumage is usually white, less often light gray or light brown. The rear edge of the wings is black. The feet are webbed and red. The beak is blue. Juvenile red-footed boobies resemble brown boobies.
This species is widespread in the Pacific Ocean; large colonies are found on the island of Tobago. Nesting sites are the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean, sometimes the Indian and Atlantic.
The largest species of its kind. Body length from 75 to 85 cm, wingspan 160 – 170 cm, weight from 1.5 to 2.5 kg.
The bird is white feathered with black wing edges and a black face mask. The tail is black. The male's beak is bright yellow, the female's is greenish-yellow. The color of the head and abdomen of young birds is brownish, and their body and neck are white. At sea the bird behaves quietly, but in the nesting colony it makes sharp, whistling calls.
The blue-faced booby lives in all of the world's tropical oceans. In the south, its distribution range reaches Australia, South Africa and South America, in the north – the Gulf of Mexico and the southeastern regions of the USA.
The bird's body length is about 80 cm. Females are usually larger and heavier than males. Their weight reaches 1.5 kg. A distinctive feature of this species is the bright blue swimming membranes on its legs. The wings and tail are long and pointed. The plumage color is brown-white, the beak is gray-green. Females have a dark pigment ring around the pupils, making the eyes appear larger.
The species breeds mainly in the Galapagos Islands, where it is protected by law. It is less common on the islands of the Gulf of California, along the west coast of Mexico, on islands near Ecuador and in northern Peru.
Sexual dimorphism is not typical for gannets, and males and females look the same and do not differ in plumage color. Only the blue-footed booby has females that are larger than males.
Gannets are monogamous birds and form pairs for at least several breeding seasons. There is an assumption that a pair of gannets stays together until one of the birds dies. Both parents are involved in incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks.
Gannets nest in colonies, where they actively defend the territory near their nest. Egg laying can occur all year round. For example, on Christmas Island its peak is observed from April to May. In nesting sites located on the east coast of Australia, laying occurs twice: in March-April and in June-October. On Ryne Island, gannets lay eggs in the autumn, from September to November.
The bird builds its nest on the ground, the base is sand or gravel, less often - places overgrown with plants. The amount of nesting material varies depending on the region of residence of the species. Thus, on desert islands, gannets lay eggs directly on the ground. In other areas, birds make nests from plants, branches, algae, bones, feathers and other materials. The male brings the building material, he puts it in the nest, or gives it to his female. The male and female complete the nest together. Sometimes gannets steal material for building a nest from their relatives.
The female usually has one or two eggs in one clutch. They are incubated by both parents for 43 days. The chicks are born naked and blind. Their downy plumage takes three to four weeks to develop. Birds gain maximum body weight at the age of about 80 days, the minimum by this time is 1.4 kg. At 17 weeks, young birds are completely ready to fly.
Interesting facts about the bird
- On the ground, gannets move sedately and clumsily, reminiscent of ducks. But in the air they transform. Gannets have a gliding flight; they can soar over the ocean for a long time, only occasionally flapping their wings. In order to reduce energy costs, they use rising air currents that carry the bird over the water surface. Sometimes you can see an unusual sight when a gannet seems to hover motionless in one place. During flight, gannets usually lower their heads down and constantly peer into the depths of the ocean. Seeing prey, the bird dives down, sometimes from a height of 30 m, and falls like a stone into the water. Air sacs protect the gannet from a concussion when colliding with water. Thanks to the high speed of falling (about 100 km/h), birds can dive to a depth of up to 25 m, but the same air sacs prevent further immersion, and the birds quickly emerge as floats.
- In nature, gannets are hunted mainly by birds of prey; ground predators cannot reach their inaccessible nests. Young animals that have not yet learned to fly are susceptible to shark attacks.
- Gannets provide benefits to humans by creating reserves of droppings (guano) in their nesting areas. Gannet droppings are of high quality, as they contain a lot of phosphorus. Guano collected from Peruvian gannet colonies is an export commodity to Peru.
- The peculiarity of the blue-footed booby is not only the rich bright blue color of its legs, but also the fact that they are very warm. So warm that the bird warms its eggs with them, and at the same time maintains a temperature of 39 ° C. While other bird species warm their clutches with their bodies, the blue-footed booby does this with the help of its paws, in which blood circulation increases even more during this period. Who would have thought that such blue paws would be so warm!
The blue-footed booby is a seabird belonging to the gannet family, which includes ten species of long-winged avifauna. These birds were first studied on a large scale by Charles Darwin during his trip to the Galapagos Islands.
Blue-footed boobies live exclusively in the vast expanses of warm tropical seas among the continental coasts of the eastern Pacific Ocean. They range from the Gulf of California down to the west coast of South and Central America, all the way to northern Peru, where they nest in colonies on dry islands. They can be found in western Mexico, on the islands near Ecuador, and in northern Peru, but their greatest concentration is observed in the Galapagos Islands. Of the total number of blue-footed boobies inhabiting the globe, which numbers about 40 thousand pairs, approximately half nest in this Pacific paradise, where this species of bird is protected by law.
The name "Booby" comes from the Spanish word "bobo", which translates as "stupid", "clown", "fool". The birds were given this name because their behavior, like that of other seabirds, when maneuvering on land is characterized by comedy and some clumsiness. In addition, they are very trusting, are not afraid of people and easily make contact with them, which does not always have a favorable outcome.
The body length of blue-footed boobies is on average 75-85 cm, the wingspan can reach 1.5 m. The weight of the birds is relatively small - approximately 1.5-3.5 kg, and females, as a rule, are more massive and larger than males. Their long wings are pointed and have brown plumage; their black tail can be described as neat and small in size. The head, decorated with a large gray-green beak, and the massive neck are light brown with white streaks. The belly and lower body are characterized by pure white plumage. The eyes, located on both sides of the beak and directed forward, are characterized by excellent binocular vision and are yellow in color. Males have a dark pigment ring around the pupils, which visually increases the size of the eyes. Because the blue-footed booby often dives headfirst into the water in search of prey, its nostrils are constantly closed, forcing it to breathe through the corners of its mouth.
Of course, the most striking and, perhaps, the main distinguishing feature of this species is the unusual color of the legs, which varies from light turquoise to deep aquamarine. In males and young birds they are bright, while females have more muted shades of their limbs. The blueness of the legs plays a key role in the process of sexual selection and reproduction: during the mating season, males display their bluish legs to attract the attention of the female.
Recent studies show that this peculiar color of the swimming membranes on the legs of the male depends on his diet, namely on the presence of carotenoid pigments, which enter the body along with fresh fish. The hue of a blue-footed booby's limbs indicates the current state of its immune system and overall health. This explains the fact that females prefer males with deep blue legs, because then the offspring will inherit the gene of a strong and healthy man. With age, the brightness of the legs decreases, which also affects sexual selection. Females tend to mate with younger males, who have a higher birth rate and are able to provide adequate paternal care than older birds.
Gannets are strictly marine inhabitants, as evidenced by their webbed toes, which are an excellent device for swimming. They spend almost all their time in water; they only need land to build nests and breed offspring.
The nesting period for blue-footed boobies lasts all year round. They may use and defend two or three nesting sites, which are usually a depression trampled in the ground and fenced with branches. They can also build their nests on trees and rocks. There is often quite a long distance between nesting sites.
During the mating season, which lasts from June to August, a truly interesting sight opens up in the habitats of blue-footed boobies. To attract a female, blue-legged males begin to demonstrate their limbs from a wide variety of angles, while performing a complex mating dance.
The courtship process begins with presenting the chosen one with a small stone or twig. Next, the gentleman begins to diligently move his paws, raises his tail, beak and wing tips to the sky, comically stretches his neck and whistles, trying with all his might to attract the attention of the female. When the chosen one accepts courtship, they bow majestically to each other, touch their beaks, and then begin to slowly dance in a kind of round dance, showing off their beautiful blue legs. A couple's dance together can last for several hours.
Blue-footed boobies are monogamous birds, although the option of mating with several partners is not excluded. The female lays eggs every 8-9 months. Usually within a week she lays 2-3 eggs, which both parents take turns incubating for about 45 days. Such a small number of hatched eggs is explained by the difficult way of keeping the nests warm. During the incubation period, due to an increase in blood flow, the membranes on their limbs swell and become warm, which allows the eggs to be warmed not with the body, as other birds do, but directly with the paws, heating them up to 39 degrees.
The hatched babies are small chicks with black beaks, covered with a layer of soft white fluff, which are not able to independently regulate their body temperature until they are one month old.
The babies' feeding must be regular, so the males are constantly at sea, getting food. They eat fish that has already been chewed by adult birds. If there is not enough food for the entire family, the parents give it to the largest chick in order to increase the likelihood of its survival and sufficient preparation for independent life.
Ten weeks after birth, the offspring boldly leave their nests and rush to the water, although they still do not know how to dive and fly. It is difficult for them to dive because these birds have air sacs under their skin, which prevent them from going underwater if they are underweight. Young individuals receive full adult plumage only after 2-3 years, and at the age of 3-4 years they reach sexual maturity. Blue-footed boobies are one of two species in their family that raise more than one chick per breeding cycle.
The average life expectancy of representatives of this species is 15-20 years.
Blue-footed boobies are carnivorous seabirds whose diet consists entirely of fish caught at sea. They feed on such representatives of aquatic fauna as flying fish, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, mackerel, as well as other small fish that live in the surrounding shallow waters. Occasionally, squid and the entrails of large fish living in Panama are chosen as food.
Like other gannets, blue-footed representatives of the species bask in their nests at night, and in the late afternoon or at dawn they begin to hunt fish. They rise into the air above the surface of the sea and carefully look through the surface of the water for potential prey, constantly keeping their beak pointed downward. Sometimes feathered hunters go far into the sea, without ceasing to closely monitor small fish.
When suitable prey comes into their sight, they use the maximum physical capabilities that make them excellent divers. Folding their long wings along the body, at a speed of about 97 km per hour, the birds rapidly dive to a depth of more than 25 meters into the water. The height from which they rush down like torpedoes can reach 10-30.5 meters. Gannets easily dive into the water and swim there in pursuit of their prey.
If successful, they emerge with their catch a few meters from the dive point. It is interesting that this type of bird fishes not while diving, but when rising to the surface of the water. The thing is that the back of the fish is usually dark, and the belly has a light silver pattern, which immediately catches the eye of hunting birds. Sometimes they don’t even have to dive, because they love to feast on flying fish that carelessly glide over the water surface. They also eat fish in the embrace of their element.
Gannets can hunt in any composition: alone, in pairs or in small groups (10-12 birds), which happens most often. They travel to bodies of water where the largest number of small fish are concentrated. When the leading bird spots prey in shallow water, it instantly signals the rest of the group, and they plunge into the water in unison, like arrows.
It is amazing that single animals, instead of sharing a meal with a group, prefer to eat alone during the day or early in the morning. The hunting process of females and males has some differences. As is known, males are inferior in weight to representatives of the opposite sex, and also have a larger tail, which poses some difficulties when fishing at depth, but allows them to hunt prey in gorges and shallow waters. Females, due to their weight, are able to catch more fish. Typically, the breadwinner brings food to the nest more often than his companion, but in smaller quantities. However, if there is a shortage of food, she is ready to go in search of it.
Blue-footed boobies communicate by emitting hoarse or polysyllabic moans, screams and thin whistling sounds. Some birds of this species can recognize each other by sound. Researchers have conducted a number of experiments that have shown that the voices of representatives of different sexes differ from each other. It was also found that both females and males are able to distinguish their comrades from others by sound.
