Picture of Planet Scott, planetscott.com
The Wild Wild World of
PLANET SCOTT
Travel and nature photos

Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra)

Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra)

Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra)


Class: Aves
Family: Sulidae
Common Name: Masked Booby
Genus: Sula
Species Name: dactylatra

About The Masked Booby

A large seabird of tropical oceans, the Masked Booby is only a rare visitor to North America. It has attempted to breed in the Dry Tortugas in Florida, but it is most frequently encountered at sea in the Gulf of Mexico or off the southern Atlantic states. The population of Masked Boobies breeding along the Pacific Coast of northern South America, including the Galapagos, was recently recognized as a separate species, the Nazca Booby. The Nazca Booby has an orange, not yellow, bill and is smaller with a significantly shorter, shallower bill. Whereas the Masked Booby usually nests on low, flat areas, the Nazca Booby uses cliffs and steep slopes. Although the Masked Booby regularly lays two eggs, it never raises two young. The first egg is laid four to nine days before the second, and the older chick always ejects the second from the nest. The parents do not protect or feed the ejected chick, and it is quickly scavenged by a host of associated crabs, landbirds, and frigatebirds.

Bibliographic Citation: "Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra)." The Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds. Citation Link Accessed 27 Jan 2014.

Trips Where Observed

Tanzania

Member Lifelists

Africa
World

Sites Where Observed

Location
Date
Notes

Planetscott.com

Sitemap Hackers Challenge Contact
Website Powered By PlanetScott.com