The Bird with Blue Feet

A bird with blue feet? That was my response when a friend told me that she was traveling to the Galapagos Islands to see the Blue-footed Booby. She was pumped with excitement. My curiosity was piqued so I decided to share a portion of her story below, and the facts that I learned about this intriguing bird. Memories of her trip are shared below.

She writes…I saw a nature show one time that featured the Galapagos Islands and the unique birds and other animals that populate those Islands exclusively.  My favorite by far was the Blue-footed Booby, a sea bird with beautiful blue feet.  During courting, the male will dance around the female and display the beauty of his feet.  When they mate, they mate for life, and share the responsibility of caring for their young.  Eggs are laid on the ground on the Islands and must be protected at all times against marauding birds and ground critters.

The Pair of Blue-footed Boobies

What’s so special about the Blue-footed Booby?

The Blue-footed Booby is a large seabird with a heavy, long, and pointed bill with pointed wings and a long tail. Typically, they nest on islands in the tropical eastern Pacific and are found in marine environments, but usually not far from land. Their rump is banded with a white circle. Its most notable characteristic is its blue-colored feet, which can range in color from pale turquoise to deep aquamarine. Males and younger birds have lighter feet than females. Young birds have brown feet and darker brown streaking on the head, neck, and chest

Another beautiful feature of these birds is the distinctive yellow eyes with the male having more yellow in its irises than the female. Its eyes are placed on either side of its bill and oriented towards the front, enabling excellent binocular vision. The chicks have black beaks and feet and are clad in a layer of soft white down.

The Blue-footed boobies are famous for their monogamous relationships and have captivated the human imagination for centuries with its mating display, in which its vivid baby-blue feet play a key role. Their courtship recalls the stylized rituals of albatrosses, though not as complex.

Males select and defend a small nesting territory and land near the potential nest site with their remarkable blue feet spread out in display against their pale bellies. Marching in an exaggerated fashion, they spread their feet up and outward. Females also display their feet to prospective partners. Apparently, the bluer the feet the more appealing the bird is, and the more likely the bird is to find a mate…this is true for both the male and female. 

Blue-footed female Booby

The Brighter the Blue, the Healthier the Blue-footed Booby

The foot color may also be an indicator of the health of young chicks according to recent studies. The healthiest chicks tended to have fathers with intensely blue feet—possibly an indication of the father’s ability to keep himself well fed. Although the famous mating display might seem comical to humans, the display of foot color provides critical information on a bird’s health and ability to provide for young. Blue-footed Booby Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The pair selects the nest site together within the male’s territory. Nesting birds sleep together at the nest; one parent at a time goes to sea to feed, and they take turns incubating the eggs. Males also sometimes destroy eggs, possibly when paternity is in question. Eggs hatch about 4 days apart, with the result that the older chicks are much larger than their siblings and sometimes attack them. Nestlings can also be attacked by other species of booby, such as Nazca Booby, that nest in the vicinity.

Blue-footed female Booby with her egg

When foraging, Blue-footed Boobies execute swift dives from heights of up to 80 feet in the air, they dive as deep as 65 feet (15 feet is a more typical diving depth), and then return immediately to the water’s surface, but they also can swim using their wings underwater, in pursuit of prey. Patrolling the water, they dive rapidly from the heights to catch fish.  Most of their day is spent fishing with the flock. Another interesting characteristic is that the nostrils are permanently closed, forcing the bird to breathe through the corners of its mouth. Blue-Footed Booby Fact & Information Guide - American Oceans

Their diet includes mostly fish, squid, anchovies, sardines, mackerel, flying fish, and other small fish. The larger female boobies take larger fish, on average, than males and can dive more deeply than males. Blue-footed Boobies catch fish by diving during daylight hours. Even when going after discards from fishing boats, these birds usually dive to catch the offal, plunging beneath the food and snapping it up in the bill as they ascend in the water.

The Unusual Cooling Mechanism of the Blue-footed Booby

An interesting habit, some might say gross, that the birds have to stay cool in very hot environments is to defecate on their feet (a behavior called urohydrosis). They also flutter the skin of their throats (the gular pouch) by rapidly vibrating bones in their throat, which creates evaporative cooling through the open mouth. Incubating birds can also defecate while on the nest mounting a circular wall of excrement around the eggs. The birds do not build a nest, but lay eggs on the ground.

My friend concludes…Seeing these birds up close and personal was a dream fulfilled. As we stood close with cameras and phones at the ready, the beautiful Blue-footed Boobies never flinched or moved away but kept their peace.  I am glad that they have protected status because much of the world has never heard about these amazing sea birds. (The pictures are compliments of Joyce Breazeale)

As Joyce stated the Blue-footed Booby does have protected status. Partners in Flight rates the species a 15 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score and also includes it on the Yellow Watch List for declining populations. The North American Waterbird Conservation Plan estimates about 90,000 birds breed in the Gulf of California between Baja California and mainland Mexico. But the largest breeding population of Blue-footed Boobies is in the Galápagos archipelago, where they are protected and where populations fluctuate but have been stable over the long term.

Let’s hope that the Blue-footed Booby continues to be protected and can thrive for future generations to enjoy this unique wonder of nature.