The blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) is an adorable looking sea bird with bright seafoam-blue webbed feet and a blue-gray face to match. The blue-footed booby belongs the Order Pelecaniformes (Pelicans and their relatives) and has long pointed wings and a narrow pointed bill.
Male blue-footed boobies show off their blue feet during their courtship dance by picking up their feet and displaying them in exagerated steps.
There are approximately 40,000 breeding pairs of blue-footed boobies in the world and half of them inhabit the Galapagos Islands (Source: Harris).
Classification:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Pelecaniformes
- Family: Sulidae
- Genus: Sula
- Species: Sula nebouxii (Source: Harris)
New to animal classification? Find out more about how scientists classify animals.
Range and Habitat: Galapagos Islands, located about 600 miles off the west coast of South America. Tropical oceanic islands, ocean.
Diet: Exclusively fish.
Status: Red List Category & Criteria (ver 2.3, 1994): LC. Least Concern. Does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened.
Sources:
- BirdLife International. 2004. 'Sula nebouxii' (On-line), IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Accessed June 21 2006.
- Burnie, D. and D.E. Wilson. Animal. Dorling Kindersley. London. 2001.
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- Harris, M. 2001. 'Sula nebouxii' (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed June 21, 2006.
