Blue-footed booby

Sula nebouxii · The blue-footed booby is a marine bird with bright blue feet that lives in the tropical and subtropical eastern Pacific Ocean, with about half of breeding pairs nesting on the Galápagos Islands.

Taxonomy

Where it lives

Dry islands and coasts of the eastern Pacific, from the Gulf of California to Peru.

Fun facts

• Blue-footed boobies dive into the sea from as high as 100 m and hit the water at around 97 km/h.
• Special air sacs in the skull of a blue-footed booby protect its brain from the huge pressure of its plunge dives.
• Because it dives headlong into the water, a blue-footed booby has permanently closed nostrils and breathes through the corners of its mouth.
• The booby's blue feet come from its diet: carotenoid pigments from fresh fish tint its skin, and the feet dull quickly if the bird goes hungry.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).