Birds of the World

    SULIFORMES: Sulidae (Gannets, Boobies)  
Genus: Sula (7 species)

Genus Sula, Boobies, are large fish-eating pelagic birds with strong bills (called piquero in Spansh). Boobies nest on remote islands and are rarely seen from the shore.


Cocos Booby
Cocos Booby (Sula brewsteri) Male
Range: NA, MA: islands off s California (Channel Islands), w Mexico: from c Baja California and Gulf of California (nw Mexico) to Revillagigedo Is. (far w of c Mexico) and Clipperton (far sw of Mexico)
Puerto Angel, Oaxaca, Mexico  
 
Photograph by Tropical Birding (Nick Athanas)   © All Rights Reserved.

A new species split from the Brown Booby, and found on islands off of California and Baja California, and sometimes as far south as Colombia. Note white head and a pale brown upper neck. There is overlap between the two species.

Masked Booby
Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra)
Range: TrO: widespread, subtropical and tropical islands
Hawaii, United States
  Photo credit: C. Eggleston/USFWS.
   
Photograph by U.S. Government employee (see below)     Copyright and usage info


Nazca Booby
Nazca Booby (Sula granti)
Range: PO: San Benedicto (Revillagigedo, far w of c Mexico), Clipperton I. (far sw of Mexico), I. del Coco (far sw of Costa Rica), I. Malpelo (far w of Colombia), Galápagos, I. de la Plata (just w of c Ecuador) and Lobos de Afuera (just w of nw Peru)
Bahia Solano, Choco, Colombia
  Note bill color different from Masked Booby.
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.


Brown Booby
Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster)
Range: TrO: widespread tropical and subtropical ocean islands
Playa la Agua, Isla Margarita, Venezuela  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.


Blue-footed Booby
Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii excisa)
Range: PO: ec subtropical and tropical Pacific coast is. patchily from Gulf of California to nw Peru
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
  Nests on the Galapagos Islands.
   
Photograph by Steven Bedard     Copyright and usage info


Red-footed Booby
Red-footed Booby (Sula sula)
Range: TrO: widespread tropical and subtropical ocean is.
Galapagos, Ecuador  
   
Photograph by Charles J. Sharp/Sharp Photography     Copyright and usage info

Red-footed Booby
Red-footed Booby (Sula sula rubripes)
Range: TrO: widespread tropical and subtropical ocean is.
Christmas Island  
   
Photograph by Patrick Kavanagh     Copyright and usage info

This species can be brown, brown with a white tail, or white with black wings.


Peruvian Booby
Peruvian Booby (Sula variegata)
Range: SA: coastal n Peru to c Chile
Paracas, Peru  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Additional photo.


© Tom Friedel - All Rights Reserved, except for images and data otherwise noted.       Colombia       Panama       Ecuador       Costa Rica       Mexico
Experimental sites:       Peru       Venezuela       The World       Brazil       Bolivia
Really Experimental sites:       Guyana       Cuba