Nature Essays

Red-footed Booby (Sula sula)

The Red-footed Booby parent is with its young chick. Genovesa Island is abundant with Booby Birds: the Red-footed, Blue-footed, Nazca and Masked. Some nests are low on tree branches, a foot or two off the ground and still other nests are directly on the soil and gravel.

The Booby Birds do not need protection from snakes or mammals. There are no natural predators and they have not been hunted. For this reason, the birds do not react to humans. They stay calm and feed their young even with groups of people standing nearby watching.

All visitors to the islands are escorted by a naturalist/biologist. Photos can be taken but flash is not allowed. In no way is anyone permitted to disrupt the environment, or to touch the birds or nests and all conversation is in quiet voices. Visitors can get close, even close enough to walk around the nests and chicks.