Blue-footed booby is a funny bird with sky-blue legs. It belongs to the family of gannets and lives mainly near tropical seas.
origin of name
The origin of the name Gannetwha is quite interesting. In English, it sounds like booby, and comes from Spanish bobo. You can translate this word as “clown”, “fool” or “fool”. This bird name is due to the fact that on land it behaves rather awkwardly. However, like most seabirds, which spend a significant part of their life in the air or at sea. However, this is not the only reason. Man is not a source of fear for such a bird species as the blue-footed booby. Photos taken during their research convincingly prove that gannets are not afraid of contact with people. And this, as you know, is not always safe.
Spread
Blue-footed booby is found exclusively along the shores of the eastern Pacific Ocean. Its habitat is the coast of the Gulf of California, the west coast of South and Central America, Mexico and Peru. In total, there are about 40 thousand pairs of these unusual birds in the world. The Galapagos Islands are the main place chosen by the blue-footed booby. The habitat of this species is rocks, land and trees, although their birds are used mainly to create nests. Gannets spend most of their time at sea.
In the Galapagos, blue-footed gannets are protected by law. There are nests of more than 20 thousand pairs of birds.
Appearance
The main distinguishing feature of boobies is, of course, the paws of saturated blue, turquoise or light blue. The color of the legs of the chicks is very light. In length, birds reach 70-80 centimeters and weigh up to three kilograms, while females are slightly larger than males. The wingspan of these exotic birds reaches one and a half meters.
The plumage of a booby brown and white. The features of its alternation give the blue-footed booby a “prickly look”. The beak of this bird has a gray-green color. The bird’s eyes are located on the sides of the beak, but they look forward, which ensures its good vision. Birds have yellow eyes, but the iris of males is much brighter than that of females. In addition, visually their eyes seem larger due to the pigment ring that is located around the pupils.
The blue-footed booby is breathing in the corners of the mouth, since her nostrils are always closed. This special adaptation is necessary for the bird during the diving.
Blue-footed booby. What does this exotic bird eat?
The gannet diet consists mainly of fish. These are anchovies, sardines and mackerel, mackerel. To catch such prey, birds dive into the water to a depth of 25 meters. At the same time, they can reach speeds under water up to 100 kilometers per hour. Sometimes you don’t have to dive for food. Mushrooms can catch flying fish that move above the surface of the sea.
In addition, these birds do not refuse to feast on the squid or the insides of large fish found near Panama.
Hunting Features
Olusha can hunt both alone and in pairs or in a pack. Such flocks, most often of twelve birds, fly over reservoirs in which small fish live. If a flock notices prey, all its members simultaneously dive. They can do this from a height of several hundred meters. Gannets eat the caught fish there, under water.
An interesting fact is that they catch prey not during diving, but when diving. This is due to the fact that the back of most fish is dark and merges in color with the thickness of the water. Therefore, being at a depth, it is difficult to notice them. The abdomen has a brighter color, in addition, it has a silver pattern. This method of hunting is much more effective.
The blue-footed booby (kuksha), which hunts on its own, never dines with the rest of the pack. They try to stay alone. Fish hunting most often occurs in the early morning or evening.
The hunting methods of male and female are different. First of all, this is due to the size of their body. Since females are heavier, they can dive much deeper and catch large fish. The body of males is much lighter, therefore they are not able to sink to a considerable depth. However, nature rewarded them with a large tail, which helps to fish in gorges. Thus, if a couple brings up chicks, the male brings them food much more often, but it is small in size.
Marriage dance
If one of the birds has a special behavior in pair, this is the blue-footed booby. The mating dance is performed by the male in order to attract the attention of the female that she liked. During his "performance" the male tries to focus on his paws, because the brighter they are, the more chances to create a pair. He cranes his neck, puts out his sharp tail and takes turns raising his bright paws. Performing the dance, the bird accompanies him with an impatient whistle.
After the courtship of the gentleman has been accepted, the gannets bow out, after which the dance is repeated again, but already joint. They raise and lower their paws, as if agreeing in this way on the construction of a joint housing. In addition, the male presents his girlfriend with a bright twig, which subsequently goes to equip the nest. Only after this ceremony is considered completed.
Difficulties in choosing a partner
Scientists have proved: the brighter the color of the paws of the male, the more eggs the female can lay. Careful selection of a partner is also associated with the fact that the female needs to allocate the amount of resources that will be allocated to one egg. A large number of eggs in a clutch means a smaller volume of yolk in each of them, but if the parents have good genetic data, the offspring will be more likely to survive.
However, the color of the legs does not matter only when the females choose their partners. Males also pay attention to this. A female with brighter paws is able to lay more eggs, and male gannets will pay special attention to them. If the eggs in the clutch differ in size, then parental care will be directed to those that are larger.
In the case when the color of the paws of the individuals is the same, the birds will take good care of all the offspring, regardless of what size they have.
Breeding
Blue-footed booby makes its nest in small pits, which the couple jointly trample in the ground. Moreover, the nests of different pairs are located at a considerable distance from each other. The grouse nesting period lasts a whole year. Every eight months, the female lays two to three eggs. Such an insignificant amount is due to the fact that their birds warm them not with the heat of their body, but with the help of paws. During the mating season, blood flow to the extremities increases, and their temperature, respectively, rises to + 39 °. Increased blood flow also contributes to the swelling and densification of the paws. Male and female hatch offspring alternately for 45 days until the chicks are born. Grouse are considered monogamous birds, but there are cases when they have several partners.
Cubs
Many birds take care of their offspring. The blue-footed booby does this too. Chicks are born very small and helpless, but soon their body is covered with thick down. The first month the cubs cannot independently control their body temperature. Only after a while the fluff is replaced by feathers. Chicks remain in the nest for three months, and only after that leave it.
To ensure the survival of offspring, gannets are constantly forced to hunt and bring them food. This is often done by the male, but if the feed is small, the female can start hunting. Sometimes a couple leaves the nest together, but this behavior is quite dangerous. The natural enemies of booby chicks are skuas and frigates. They bust unattended nests. If the gannets lose their offspring, they begin to lay eggs again, but they are more closely monitored.
After the youth leaves the nest, it immediately rushes into the sea, although they still do not know how to swim or fly at this age. Each bird has special air sacs under its skin that prevent the chicks from diving. They learn to do this as their weight increases.
Puberty in these tropical birds occurs at the age of 3-4 years.
Why does gannet have blue legs
The blue color of the gannet paws provides a special pigment - carotenoid. It is constantly produced in poultry thanks to a diet rich in fresh marine fish. In addition, this pigment is an antioxidant and stimulates the immune system. Thus, the color of the paws of a young and healthy bird will be much brighter. If fresh fish disappears from the diet of blue-footed booby, the color of its paws becomes dimmer after 48 hours. The fact is that for the production of carotenoids, a sufficient amount of lipids is necessary, the source of which is sea fish.
The unusual color of the paws plays a significant role in the currenting period. It is on them in the first place that the blue-footed booby pays attention. Why do blue paws attract females? Bright color is a sign of good health and a strong immune system of the male. As for females of other animals, the main thing for a gannetwhale is to get genetically healthy offspring. Therefore, she is more likely to choose a male with aquamarine or saturated blue paws. Males, whose paws are gray-blue, run the risk of being left without a pair. With age, the saturation of colors in males decreases significantly, which does not contribute to the growth of their popularity among females.
Rules of life for blue-footed boobies
1. Gannets spend most of their lives at sea. They only need land in order to nest and raise offspring.
2. It may happen that a couple is not able to catch enough food for their offspring. In this case, the largest and strongest of the chicks is selected, and the gannets give all the food they harvest to him. Thus, they ensure the survival of at least one chick so that he becomes strong enough to continue a kind.
3. Blue-footed boobies can communicate with each other. They make hoarse screams and whistles. Such communication plays an important role both during the mating season and later, when it becomes necessary to jointly raise offspring.
4. Scientists still have not been able to establish the time during which the gannets can remain under water. Options vary from a few seconds to two minutes. The maximum depth to which they dive when hunting for fish is also unknown.
5. Modern gannets do not build full-fledged nests. They trample a hole in the ground and block it with a small number of branches.
6. Blue-footed gannets - one of the few birds of their kind, whose families can be called "large families." Often, representatives of the gannet family have only one chick.