Redfooted Booby
Piquero Patas Rojo
(Sula sula)

Identification Photos: Redfooted Booby, Sula sula: The Redfooted Booby is a large seagoing bird that is a member of the Sulidae Family. The name is derived from the Spanish word “bobo” which means asinine, foolish, idiotic or stupid. This name originated from the Redfooted Booby's habit of landing on ships at sea where it is easily approachable and killed by sailors.

The Redfooted Booby comes in two forms: the brown version, which makes up 95 percent of the population, and the white version. The dark version has a brown head with large eyes and brown body, darker wings, a large blue-gray pointed bill, and red feet. The white version has a white head, tail, and underwings but is otherwise the same as the brown version. The Redfooted Booby has a torpedo-like body that reach 28 inches with a wing span of 4.5 feet. The juveniles are dark brown with dark feet and require two to three years to reach maturity. The Redfooted Booby has a life expectancy of 22 years. The coloration and markings of the two sexes are similar. The Redfooted Booby flies by flapping and gliding, flapping and gliding. It is a non-swimmer and sits on the water to rest.

The Redfooted Booby is a pelagic species spending the majority of its time at sea. It is the smallest and fastest flying of the boobies and travels great distances to fish. It collects fish or squid primarily at night by plunge-diving beak first from 30 to 50 feet and disappearing for several seconds. It comes to shore to breed, year-round, and is one of the few sea birds that makes nests in small trees and bushes.

When not mating the Redfooted Booby is rarely seen. It lays one egg and hatches one chick, after 45 days of incubation, which remains in the nest for 130 days.

The Redfooted Booby is present in all tropical waters south of 30 degrees North latitude. The global population is estimated to be 300,000 pairs, the majority of which reside in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, and including 100,000 in the Galapagos Islands.