What would you do if you had blue feet?
by Kool Cat KC on 02/18/12
Blue-foooted boobies have bright blue feet, but boobies’ feet come in many different colors. Boobies with different colored feet are a different species, a different type of boobie. Can you find out how many species of boobies there are? See if you can find any other differences.
Boobies live off the west coast of the Americas, below California, and as far south as Perú. There is a very large colony of boobies in the Galápagos Islands, off the shore of Ecuador, in South America. No humans live in many of the Galápagos Islands, so boobies are not afraid of humans. That's how my human, Terry, got close enough to them to take those pictures.
There is a really big, and slow reptile that also lives in the Galápagos Islands. Can you figure out what that reptile is? Can you find the islands on a map?
Here's some info about blue-footed boobies. When boobies spot a fish, they dive head first into the water, wings folded back. If they’re lucky, most of the time they come out of the water chomping on a fish! People have even seen them catch a flying fish in the air.
Blue Footed boobies make their nests on the ground. When it’s nesting time, the male starts a little dance, lifting one foot and then the other. When a female joins in the dance, or touches him with her bill, he knows he has a girl! Can you find out how many eggs boobies lay? Who takes care of the eggs? How do they keep their eggs warm?
My human and I read our info about blue footed boobies in the March, 2010 issue of Ranger Rick Magazine, and at marinebio.org. See what other information you can find out about all types of boobies and the Galápagos islands. Choose a topic, write an essay and share it with your friends in class.
See our Photo Gallery for Boobie pictures
