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Blue-footed booby is one of the most amazing birds, causing a keen interest in itself. It belongs to the characteristic representatives of a small detachment of pelican-like. The first information about this bird was provided by Charles Darwin himself, who studied in detail all the data about this representative of the gannet family found in the Galapagos Islands.
Being one of the rare birds, it seems to be a very large specimen of birds, adapted to the marine habitat. The bird is perfectly adapted for life in water, and on land it looks completely awkward. In the closest kinship, there are pelicans and numerous cormorants. Of the known subspecies of this bird, not everyone managed to survive to this day, at least 2 of them are considered extinct. And the most numerous for today are the gannets of Abbot and only a few are not inferior to them the northern gannets.
Blue-footed booby is characterized by a very impressive size. The weight of this bird reaches 1.5 kilograms, and the body length of individual individuals exceeds 90 centimeters. The wingspan of the sea dweller is 2 meters, on its small head there is a strong beak of a gray-blue shade extended in the shape of peaks.
The eyes of this bird are quite small, but have a noticeable mobility. Under the skin, in the forehead, there are special pads that serve to flavor the body surface while diving under water. The visual apparatus of the Blue-footed booby is arranged in a rather unusual way, such vision is called binocular, capable of producing very accurate values of the distance to the selected target. On the beak of the bird, as expected, the nostrils are located, but the booby cannot use them, skin growths over the beak of a lover of water procedures completely block them. Gannet is able to breathe exclusively through its beak.
The professional diver got its name because of the unusual color of her legs, which distinguishes her from most famous birds similar to her. Like many representatives who are able to confidently stay on the water, gannetwhall has short paws, equipped with interdigital membranes that allow you to move quite energetically along the surface of the water. But its main difference is the bright blue color of these paws, forming the individuality of a skilled swimmer. This bird has its dense plumage regularly lubricated with fat, which is produced due to the peculiar secretion of waterfowl, which allows them to stay confidently on the water, without fear of wetting the cover of feathers.
The main color of boobies consists of only two colors - white with black cut. However, from a closer distance, it is clearly seen that the black color has concentric brown opals. These birds not only stay perfectly on the water, while diving and overtaking their marine prey, they also feel confident in the air, like many other birds adapted to hunt on the sea. Gannets can plunge into the deep sea, starting from a height of 10 meters, ending with a 100 meter mark, thanks to its binocular visual apparatus. The immersion depth of these sea hunters reaches 25 meters, the speed that they develop with an attacking throw exceeds 150 kilometers per hour.
Sea Hunter Habitat
Acceptable to the atmosphere, this feathered brotherhood chose the equatorial zone of the planet. The warm waters of the central latitudes appear to favor the prudent huntress. She prefers to stay away from human eyes, on the sandy beaches of uninhabited islands, using rocky surfaces for nesting. That is why the population of Blue-footed boobies is found only in the equatorial zone of the three oceans, as well as on the coasts of South America. The Galapagos Islands appear to be a favorite habitat for these birds. According to experts, the number of this subspecies of gannets on the globe is approximately 40 thousand pairs, half of which live in the Pacific, being protected by local legislation.
The origin of the name of the bird with blue legs
The bird most likely owes its name to the Spaniards, in the language of which it looks like a bobo, which literally translates as “clown”, “booby” or “fool”. Such an unflattering nickname was awarded to a booby due to complete clumsiness on land. But the veracity of this assessment is openly evident, on land the virtuoso of flight looks, humblely speaking, comical. Observing the land movements of these birds, it is difficult to imagine what limits the speed of their flight reaches.
The blue-footed booby is a very curious bird, because of rare contacts with a person, she does not perceive him as an enemy and treats with confidence, which very often ends tragically for her.
The behavior and lifestyle of a clumsy pedestrian
A feathered lover of equatorial latitudes is classified as flocks of birds that are able to gather in communities of more than ten thousand individuals. Among them are species that carry out rather long seasonal flights. Not a fussy and solitary lifestyle has formed a rather calm character with gannets, allowing them to soar for hours over the water surface, looking for gape prey.
As a flight style, an air acrobat prefers planning, using the capabilities of her huge wings, she skillfully operates with air currents, changing the altitude and direction of the flight as she sees fit. At the same time, the bird does not make unnecessary movements, carefully saving its energy. Nature has endowed Gannetwax with excellent aerodynamic characteristics, allowing her to develop incredible speed in a short period of time.
The attack of a sea hunter looks very spectacular, having fixed her prey in her “sight”. She folds her wings, directs her beak down, making a lightning-like throw into the water from a height sometimes exceeding the 100 meter mark. Considering the speed of the attack and the hunter's perfect streamlining, she is able to plunge into the water for more than 20 meters, but she is forced to immediately jump back, likened to a sinking float. In case of a miss, the attack has to be started anew.
In a bird that has landed on land, the pattern of behavior changes beyond recognition. She parades the duck gait very comically, swaying strongly from side to side and uttering ridiculous mutterings. All these movements and sounds have a completely unnatural appearance that resembles a mounted fragment of a comic animation.
Predator Diet
The traditional menu of Blue-footed booby consists exclusively of seafood. She hunts with equal success, both for fish and cephalopods. Herring fish, such as sardines, anchovies or gerbil, are certainly preferred, but squid caught in the "sight" will also not be left without attention.
Hunting for a flight master does not seem to be a grueling work; it is more like a virtuoso game of a talented performer.Interestingly, the gannet cannot grab its prey at the moment of immersion, it has to grab the victim at the moment when the movement in the water stopped and begins to change direction.
The ability to spend a lot of time in the air allows the bird to invent various tricks that diversify its hunting style. For example, she easily fulfills the maneuver of interception of flying fish in the air, providing not many tourists with excellent scenes for photographing. In addition, attentive birds have long appreciated the benefits of group hunting and do not miss the opportunity to accompany dolphins breaking a school of migratory fish.
The blue-footed booby prefers to hunt in the early morning or evening, closer to sunset. To maintain the balance of vitamins in the body, the bird regularly picks young algae on the coast, taking care of their health.
The manner of hunting of gannetwalker females differs markedly from the techniques used by males. This is due to the different constitution of birds. Males are noticeably inferior to females in the weight category, and have a very solid tail - qualities that do not allow them to compete with their girlfriends in the depths of immersion. But in the interception of prey on the fly or picking it up from the surface, they are unconditional favorites.
In addition, caring males, unlike females, give most of the prey to their offspring. However, females compensate for their inattention with the dimensions of the catch.
Love foreplay of island hermits
The main purpose of this dance is to demonstrate the color of their legs. Stretching its neck, the male alternately waves his “flippers”, issuing a long whistle, the “groom” with the brightest limbs always remains the winner. Looking at these actions from the side, it remains completely incomprehensible how they manage to maintain balance. The male likes the female demonstratively showing her legs in response. This serves as a signal for rapprochement.
The male presents the girlfriend with a twig, which will become the basis of the future nest. Having thus fixed the moment of union, future partners perform a marriage dance together for each other. The moment of intimacy occurs only after compliance with all conventions.
Video: blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)
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