What do you think of when you hear the name "blue-footed boobies"? Blue-footed sounds normal, but boobies? Where did the booby part come into play? The Spaniards first named the birds this because of their clumsiness on land and their fearlessness of humans. The name booby comes from the term bobo, meaning stupid, fool, or clown. Scientifically speaking, the blue-footed booby is named sula nebouxii. Along with their fun name, blue-footed boobies also display interesting characteristics in their physical appearance and behavior. Female blue-footed boobies are usually larger than the males and have a dark ring of pigment around their pupils. Both have long, pointed wings that can span up to five feet. Their necks, wedge shaped tails, and heads are light brown with white streaks, while their belly and underside are pure white. Their eyes are a glaring yellow, and their beaks are jet black.
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| Blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos |
After a female agrees to mate with him, the couple builds a nest together. Strangely, however, this nest will not be used. Instead, the booby eggs will be laid inside a slight dip in the ground. They nest on land at night as opposed to their usual habitat on the open sea. Unlike humans, females practice asynchronous hatching and usually lay 1 to 3 eggs, 4 to 5 days apart. The chicks are usually born in 41-45 days and warm themselves on their parents' feet. Depending on food availability, baby boobies will sometimes practice facultative siblicide. In addition, females often grow faster and turn out bigger.
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| Mother feeding young |
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| Baby Boobies (Notice their feet coloring- why do you think this is?) |
In order to communicate, male blue-footed boobies use a low whistle, while females often sound like a honk or horn. Use this link to hear the beautiful blue-footed boobies talk to one another.
Most blue-footed boobies live in the Galapagos Islands, however many others reside along the western coasts of Central and South America. Many people believe that many organisms they see in the Galapagos only live there, however many of the same species reside on other nearby islands and shores. Blue-footed boobies are a protected species in the Galapagos, however they are not an endangered species and are currently rated as a "least concern" on the conservation spectrum. Personally, I am super excited to see the blue-footed boobies. Their blue feet are so exotic and unique to anything we typically see in Houston. When my grandparents came back from the Galapagos, they couldn't stop talking about how cool and interesting the blue-footed boobies were! They bought several shirts picturing the blue-footed booby, and to this day, they constantly gush about how amazing the blue-footed booby is. Going to the Galapagos Islands is really going to expose us and help us learn about such unique birds like the booby. Other types of boobies in the Galapagos are the Nazca Booby and the red-footed Booby. What do you think makes the blue-footed booby different from the Nazca Booby and the red-footed Booby? Why?
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| The Nazca Booby |
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| The Red-footed Booby |
Within the past fifty years, the Galapagos blue-footed booby has experienced a significant decrease in its reproduction rate. What do you think is(are) the explanation(s) for this large population decrease? How could this decrease effect the Galapagos Islands and its other inhabitants?
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All three boobies are different in appearance. The Nazca booby has brown feet and a white and black body. The red-footed booby has red feet and a brown body. The blue-footed booby has blue feet and a white and brown body. I think that these boobies are different because of results from evolution as explained by Darwin. They all most likely originated from one bird; however, after being separated they evolved into different species based on their needs.
ReplyDeleteI think that the blue-footed booby's reluctance to reproduce and thus population decrease could be caused by the environment or food supply, which could have both been affected by humans. Littering and simply walking over their land could have harmed the environment. Humans also could have killed a lot of their prey, making it harder to find food.
As always, when a member of a food chain has a population change, it impacts the other members. This could cause an increase in blue-footed booby prey and a decrease in their predators.
There could be many possible explanations for the Blue Footed Booby's decrease in population. i think that the most likely explanation would be competition between the two other types of their species on the island. They may have become slightly better adapted and even though they are rare, they are of the least concern and all the boobies are of substantial number at least, so maybe the Blue Footed Booby has fallen behind and therefore cannot get food as easily and doesn't have as much access to the resources on the island as much as the other types and that has lead to a decrease in their population. The Blue Footed Booby could soon became more endanger of becoming extinct. In the behavior of the species, there may be a decrease in siblicide in the Blue Footed Boobies. Unless there is a major animal that preys on the birds, I would expect that their drop in numbers would not do a ton to effect the environment.
ReplyDeleteAll joking aside, the boobies are beautiful creatures that bring much diversity and brilliance to the Galapagos ecosystem. The population decrease comes from the lack of reproduction amongst the boobies. Habitat destruction could also be a contributing factor to the population decrease. People destroying the natural habitats of many species often leads to their population decreasing. Another factor may be that there is over fishing. Less and less food for the boobies may cause them to starve and not populate as often, resulting in less boobies reproducing. This decrease could lead to an imbalance of other species. Other animals that might prey on them might also starve, and species they consume would flourish.
ReplyDeleteAll joking aside, the boobies are beautiful creatures that bring much diversity and brilliance to the Galapagos ecosystem. The population decrease comes from the lack of reproduction amongst the boobies. Habitat destruction could also be a contributing factor to the population decrease. People destroying the natural habitats of many species often leads to their population decreasing. Another factor may be that there is over fishing. Less and less food for the boobies may cause them to starve and not populate as often, resulting in less boobies reproducing. This decrease could lead to an imbalance of other species. Other animals that might prey on them might also starve, and species they consume would flourish.
ReplyDelete