654 Featured Specimen

Red-footed booby

Sula sula

A tropical ocean booby with vivid red feet, a bluish bill, and several color morphs.

Range

Habitat range map

Native range Occasional / Transient

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Occurs around tropical islands and surrounding seas of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans, often nesting in shrubs or coastal woodland.

Bright red feet, a slender body, and long wings are distinctive. Plumage varies from white to brown morphs.

It ranges far over open ocean and feeds in groups. Unlike many boobies, it commonly perches and nests in trees or shrubs.

Flying fish, squid, and small fish are caught near the surface or in shallow plunge-dives.

A stick nest is built in a tree or shrub, and one egg is laid. Parents share incubation and regurgitate fish or squid to the chick.

Tree nesting sets it apart from many boobies, but island predators and nesting-site disturbance remain risks.