Blue Footed Booby 10 Fun Facts

The Blue Footed Booby is one of the most fascinating animals of The Galapagos Islands.They are mainly marine birds, and they spend very little time on land, much of which is used for breeding and raising their young. One of the easiest ways of identifying the bird is by their bright blue feet, but there are many more interesting facts about this exotic creature:

The colour of their feet comes from pigmentation from their diet of fresh fish. It’s actually a substance called carotenoid; these are antioxidants that improve the immune system. The brighter the colour of their feet, the healthier they are.

 

Blue-footed boobies have a special air sac in their skulls to protect their brains. Because they dive from such high heights to such deep depths, their skulls have a special kind of air bubble to protect their brains from this immense pressure. This makes them some of the best divers of the Galapagos. 

 

The male and females are nearly identical, and there are only a few ways to tell them apart. The male blue footed booby is slightly smaller in size, and communicates with a soft whistle, whilst the larger female adopts more of a honking sound. (to be fair to the female, she probably did communicate with a soft whistle to start with but nobody listened to her). 

 

The male booby sticks to shallow waters to hunt. Due to their smaller size, they leave the deep sea diver to the heavier female boobies, whose larger build enables her to carry more fish home. The smaller male boobies have a longer tail to enable them to change direction quicker in shallow waters, giving them a better hunting advantage. 

 

A group of blue footed boobies is not called a flock, as one would assume a group of birds to be. Instead they are called a hatch, or trap. 

 

The male dances to attract a mate.The male booby will dance for his bride by stomping around marching-band style proudly displaying his blue feet. They will then extend their wings outward and point blue bills skyward. 

 

Male blue footed boobies with brighter blue feet are more attractive to female boobies than those with pale blue feet. Those with paler blue feet are considered unhealthy and weak, and those with bright blue feet were considered strong and successful at bringing home the bacon  … I mean fish.

 

Once they have found their mate, they will always be able to recognise their call. Whilst it all may sound the same to us, they can certainly tell the difference. 

 

The female lays 2-3 small, bluish eggs. Both parents stay for about two months to care for the chicks. The chicks have such fluffy white feathers they will often appear larger than their parents.When there is not enough food for all the chicks, the larger will become dominant and hog all the food thus leaving the smaller, frailer ones to starve. 

 

Their nostrils are permanently sealed shut! They have to dived from great heights (sometimes up to 300ft!) and can often hit the water at speeds of up to 60mph, so this prevents water damage to their brain. They instead release air out of the sides of their beaks once submerged.