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Blue-footed booby is one of the most amazing birds that attract keen interest. 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 family of booby found on 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 the water, and on land it looks completely awkward. In the close relationship with the booby 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 today, Abbot's booby heads are considered the most numerous and northern booby are inferior to them only to a few.
Blue-footed booby is characterized by very impressive sizes. The weight of this bird reaches 1.5 kilograms, and the body length of individual individuals exceeds 90 centimeters. The magnitude of the wingspan of the marine inhabitant is 2 meters, on its small head there is a strong beak of a gray-blue shade elongated in the form of peaks.
The eyes of this bird are rather small, but have noticeable mobility. Under the cover of the skin, in the forehead, there are special pads that serve to aromatize the surface of the body while diving under water. The visual apparatus of the Blue-footed Booby is arranged in a rather unusual way, such a vision is called binocular, capable of producing very accurate values of the distance to the chosen target. On the beak of the bird, as it should be, the nostrils are located, but the gannet cannot use them, the skin growths over the beak of the amateur of water procedures completely block them.Bogus is able to breathe exclusively through the beak.
The professional diver got its name because of the unusual color of its legs, which distinguishes it from most famous birds like it. Like many representatives who are able to confidently stay on the water, the gannet has short legs, equipped with interdigital membranes, allowing it to move quite vigorously on the surface of the water. But its main difference is the bright blue color of these paws, which forms the personality of a skilful swimmer. This dense plumage of this bird regularly provides grease from the fat, which is produced due to the peculiar secretion of waterfowl, which allows them to confidently hold on the water, without fear of wetting the cover of feathers.
The main color of the gannet consists of only two colors - white with a black cut. However, from a closer distance it is clearly visible that the black color has concentric brown opalins. These birds are not only excellently kept on the water, while diving and overtaking their marine prey, they also feel confident in the air, like many other birds that have adapted to hunting the sea.From the height of 10 meters, finishing with the 100-meter mark, thanks to its binocular visual apparatus, booby can dive into the sea depths of the gannet. The depth of immersion of these sea hunters reaches 25 meters, the speed they develop when attacking throws, exceeds 150 kilometers per hour.
Habitat of sea hunter
This feathered brotherhood chose the equatorial zone of the planet as an acceptable atmosphere. The warm waters of central latitudes appear to favor the prudent hunter. She prefers to stay away from human eyes, on the sandy beaches of uninhabited islands, using rocky surfaces for nesting. That is why the Blue-footed Booby population 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 the favorite habitat of these birds. According to experts, the population of this subspecies of booby on the globe is approximately 40 thousand pairs, half of which live in the Pacific Ocean region, under the protection of local legislation.
The origin of the name of the bird with blue legs
The bird most likely owes its name to the Spaniards, in whose language it looks like bobo, which literally translates as “clown”, “dolt” or “fool”. He was honored with such an unflattering nickname because of total clumsiness on land. But the truthfulness of this assessment is strikingly evident, on land the flight virtuoso looks, modestly speaking, ridiculous. Observing the land movements of these birds, it is difficult to imagine what limits their flight speed reaches.
Blue-footed booby is a very curious bird, because of rare contact with a person, it does not perceive it as an enemy and is quite trustworthy, which very often ends in tragedy for it.
Behavior of a clumsy pedestrian
The feathered lover of equatorial latitudes belongs to the flock birds, which are able to gather in communities numbering more than ten thousand individuals. Among them are the species that make long-distance seasonal flights. Not a fussy and secluded lifestyle has formed a rather calm character in boobies, allowing them to soar over the water surface for hours, looking for their gaping prey.
As a flight style, the aerial acrobat prefers planning, using the capabilities of its huge wings, it skillfully operates with air currents, changing the height and direction of flight at its discretion. In this case, the bird does not make unnecessary movements, carefully saving its energy. Nature endowed booby with excellent aerodynamic characteristics, allowing it to develop an incredible speed in a short period of time.
The attack of the sea-huntress, which fixed its prey in its “sight”, looks very spectacular. It folds its wings, directs its beak downward, making a lightning throw into the water from a height sometimes exceeding 100 meter mark. Given the speed of attack and the perfect streamline hunter, she is able to dive into the water for more than 20 meters, but is forced to immediately jump back, becoming like a non-sinking float. In case of a miss, the attack has to start over.
In a bird dropping on land, the pattern of behavior changes beyond recognition. She very comically parades the duck gait, swaying strongly from side to side, and at the same time making absurd muttering.All these movements and sounds have a completely unnatural appearance that resembles a mounted fragment of comic animation.
Predator's food intake
The traditional Blue-footed booby menu consists exclusively of seafood. It hunts with equal success, both on fish and cephalopod mollusks. Celery fish, such as sardines, anchovies or gerbil, are certainly preferred, but the squid caught in the “sight” will also not be ignored.
Hunting for the master of flight does not seem to be exhausting work, it is more like a virtuoso play of a talented performer. Interestingly, the gannet cannot grab its prey at the time of immersion, it has to grab the victim at the moment when the movement in the water has stopped and begins to change direction.
The ability to spend a lot of time in the air allows the bird to invent various tricks to diversify its hunting style. For example, it easily fulfills the maneuver of intercepting flying fish in the air, providing not many tourists with excellent plots for photographing.In addition, attentive birds have long appreciated the advantages of group hunting and do not miss the opportunity to accompany dolphins, breaking the school of migratory fish.
The Blue-footed Booby prefers to hunt in the early morning or in the evening, closer to sunset. To maintain the balance of vitamins in the body, the bird regularly picks up young algae on the coast, taking care of its health.
The manner of hunting female booby differs markedly from the methods 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 go with their friends in the depth of the dive. But in the capture of prey on the fly or pick it up from the surface, they are absolute favorites.
In addition, caring males, unlike females, give the majority of their prey to their offspring. However, females compensate for their inattention by the dimensions of the catch.
Love preludes of island hermit
The main purpose of this dance is to demonstrate the color of your feet. Stretching out the neck, the male alternately waving his “flippers” while uttering a long whistle, the “groom” with the brightest limbs always remains the winner. Looking at these actions from the outside, it remains completely incomprehensible how they manage to maintain balance. To the liked male, the female demonstratively shows her legs in response. This serves as a signal for convergence.
The male presents a sprig to the girlfriend who will become the basis of the future nest. Fixing, thus, the moment of union, the future partners perform a marriage dance together for each other. The moment of closeness comes only after the observance of all conventions.
Video: Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii)
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