The above system optimizes the reproductive capacity of the blue-foot in an unpredictable environment. If food is scarce, the first born will get more food than its nest mate(s) and will outcompete them, causing them to starve. The problem is usually solved by the somewhat callous-sounding system of “opportunistic sibling murder.” The first-born chick is larger and stronger than its nest mate(s) as a result of hatching a few days earlier and also because the parents feed the larger chick. When times are good, the parents may successfully fledge all three chicks, but, in harder times, they may still lay as many eggs yet only obtain enough food to raise one. Sooner or later, the need to feed the young becomes greater than the need to protect them and both adults must fish to provide enough. Then the female takes a greater part as time proceeds. The reason is that the male has a longer tail than the female in relation to his body size, which makes him able to execute shallower dives and to feed closer to shore. He can bring back a constant supply of small fish for the chicks, which must be fed continuously. #Blue footed boobies reading with answer full#The eggs are thick-shelled so they can withstand the full weight of an incubating bird.Īfter hatching, the male plays a major role in bringing fish home. Instead, it uses its broad webbed feet, which have large numbers of prominent blood vessels, to transmit heat essential for incubation. #Blue footed boobies reading with answer skin#Unlike most birds, booby doesn’t develop brood patches (areas of bare skin on the breast) to warm the eggs during incubation. Both male and female take turns incubating the eggs. When ready the female Blue Footed Booby lays one to three eggs.Īfter mating, two or three eggs are laid in a shallow depression on flat or gently sloping ground. Sun-baked islands form the booby’s breeding grounds. When the female is ready to lay her eggs, they scrape the existing nest away so she can nest on exposed ground. After mating, another ritual occurs – the nest-building which ironically is never used because they nest on the bare ground. The female may also partake in these activities – lifting her feet, sky pointing, and of course, squawking at her mate. #Blue footed boobies reading with answer plus#Plus he’ll raise his bill up towards the sky to try to win his mate over. The male walks around the female, raising his bright blue feet straight up in the air while bringing his ‘shoulders’ towards the ground and crossing the bottom tips of his wings high above the ground. The blue-footed booby’s characteristic feet play a significant part in their famous courtship ceremony, the ‘booby dance’. Therefore these birds received such name for their clumsiness on land in which they were easy, captured, killed, and eaten by humans. The blue footed booby is extremely vulnerable to human visitors because it does not appear to fear them. Its name was probably inspired by the bird’s clumsiness on land and apparently unwarranted bravery. All catch fish in a similar manner, but in different areas: the blue-footed booby does its fishing close to shore, while the masked booby goes slightly farther out, and the red-footed booby fishes at the farthest distances from shore.Īlthough it is unknown where the name “Booby” emanates from, some conjecture it may come from the Spanish word for clown, “bobo”, meaning “stupid”. The blue-footed and red-footed boobies mate throughout the year, while the masked boobies have an annual mating cycle that differs from island to island. They are all members of the same family, and are not only different in appearance but also in behaviours. There are three varieties on the Galapagos: the blue-footed, red-footed, and masked boobies. Surprisingly, individuals do not eat with the hunting group, preferring to eat on their own, usually in the early morning or late afternoon. When the lead bird sees a fish shoal in the water, it will signal the rest of the group and they will all dive together. They travel in parties of about 12 to areas of water with large schools of small fish. When their prey is in sight, they fold their long wings back around their streamlined bodies and plunge into the water from as high as 80 feet, so streamlined they barely make a splash. They are specialized fish eaters feeding on small school fish like sardines, anchovies, mackerel, and flying fish. Boobies are a small group of seabirds native to tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world.
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