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The Red Footed Booby is the
smallest of the three Galapagos species of boobies and tends to
perch and nest in trees rather than being ground based like the
others, it is also semi-nocturnal. They are around 28 in (71 cm)
long with a wingspan of 4-˝ ft (1.37 m).
The red feet can just be seen
through the leaves in this picture. This individual is a "brown
phase" bird and is the commonest in the Galapagos, there are also
"white phase" individuals.
Red Footed Boobies are fish eaters
and feed almost exclusively far off shore in the open ocean, often
around the submerged bajos or submarine volcanoes where
upwelling currents cause a bloom of algae and of fish that feed on
them. Picture courtesy NOAA |