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Red-footed Booby
(Sula sula)
: "Red-footed Gannet", "Red-legged Gannet"
Size: 66-80 cm; wing span 1.4 m
Weight: 0.9-1.1 kg
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Similar
species |
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Red-footed Boobies are big seabirds whose
plumage can have two
different morphologies.
In the white
morphology the upper side of the back of the wing is black from the
alula inwards to
the tertiaries, on the underwing the entire trailing edge is black.
There are additional black spots on the primaries.
The cap is white, the black eyes are surrounded by a blue ring.
Pink spots between the eyes and along the chin give the face an
overall pink/blue appearance. The bill is turquoise-blue.
The tail feathers are white, while the legs and feet are bright red.
In the dark morphology the entire upper body and wings are
dark-brown, while rump, tail and vent are white.
Intermediate morphologies exist between these two, in which
birds have partly greyish-brown feathers.
Juveniles
have dark-brown plumage.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Red-footed
Booby at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Red-footed Booby is available
HERE
.
Red-footed Boobies are birds of the tropical
oceans all
around the globe.
Red-footed Boobies are found only in marine habitats, i.e. on
the open oceans,
never in fresh water. They are most easily spotted when hunting in
shallow
waters just off the coastline. They nest on tropical
islands.
In Australia, Red-footed Boobies, race rubripes(?), reach the
coastline only northward of the NSW/QLD border, and - outside
their breeding season - occasionally farther South down the NSW
coast. In the tropics (during their breeding season) they usually
keep well away from land when not nesting.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
A. Ross-Taylor reports seeing Red-footed Boobies, race rubripes(?), from a cruiseship
while in Australian territorial waters off the coast of QLD in April
2012.
All photographic and sighting information presented on this page
has kindly been contributed by A. Ross-Taylor.
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Photos |
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Race "rubripes"(?)
White morphology
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ADULT |
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Near-lateral view an adult Red-footed Booby in flight; in this
view one can see the characteristic red feet
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Off the coast of QLD, April 2012]
View of the upperwing pattern of an adult Red-footed Booby in flight
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Off the coast of QLD, April 2012]
View of the underwing pattern of an adult Red-footed Booby in flight
(photo courtesy of A. Ross-Taylor)
[Off the coast of QLD, April 2012]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
