Brown Booby Identification Guide

Brown Booby

Key facts

Scientific name: Sula leucogaster
UK status: Accidental (rare vagrant)
Global conservation status: Least concern
Length: 75 cm
Wingspan: 145 cm
Weight: M 1.1 kg F 1.4 kg

Description

The brown booby is a widespread, large seabird that looks like a small gannet, with short wings, a sharp jagged beak, and a long, tapered tail. It has brown upperparts and a white belly and underwing. The head is brown, except for the chin which is yellow, the beak is pale pink, and the legs and feet are yellow.

Males and females are similar, except the female is larger and has a yellow orbital ring, while the male’s is blue. The male of the subscpecies S. l. brewsteri has a grey-brown breast and neck, and a white forehad, forecrown, and chin,

They are typically silent birds, although will occasionally emit grunts and quacking sounds, and like other members of the family are clumsy on land but powerful and agile in flight.

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Diet

Brown boobies eat mainly small fish and squid. They occasionally feed on their own but usually forage in flocks by plunge diving into the sea or skimming the surface to catch flying fish.

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Range and habitat

Brown boobies are found throughout the world on tropical seas. They are a summer visitor to the Gulf coast and Caribbean Sea, but may be found farther north along the Atlantic coast. They breed on the islands and coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

They can often be spotted on buoys and rock jetties on their own or with other seabirds.

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