Boobies
Boobies have been known to man for a very long time and frequently come, in many different sizes, shapes, colours and textures. The boobies are part of the family Sulidae, a group of seabirds closely related to gannets. The true boobies all belong to the genus Sula.These are large birds with long pointed wings and long bills. They hunt fish by diving from a height into the sea and pursuing their prey underwater. They have facial air sacs under their skin which cushion the impact with the water.
Where did boobies come from?
The fossil record of boobies is not as well documented as that of gannets; possible reasons could be that booby species were less numerous in the late Miocene to Pliocene when gannets had their highest diversity, or that due to the more tropical distribution of boobies, many fossil species have simply not been found yet as most localities are in continental North America or Europe.
Boobies are colonial breeders on islands and coasts, which normally lay one or more chalky blue eggs on the ground or sometimes in a tree nest. Their name is possibly based on the Spanish slang term bubi, meaning “dunce”, as these tame birds had a habit of landing on board sailing ships where they were easily captured and eaten.
Some Booby names
- Blue-footed Booby, Sula neboux
- Peruvian Booby, Sula variegata
- Masked Booby, Sula dactylatra
- Red-footed Booby, Sula sula
- Brown Booby, Sula leucogaster
Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Pelecaniformes
- Family: Sulidae
- Genus: Sula
- Brisson, 1760 Species
More Boobies stuff
- Friesen, V. L.; Anderson, D. J.; Steeves, T. E.; Jones, H. & Schreiber, E. A. (2002): Molecular Support for Species Status of the Nazca Booby (Sula granti). Auk 119(3): 820-826. [English with Spanish abstract] DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2002)119[0820:MSFSSO]2.0.CO;2 PDF.
- Brown Booby videos
