Galapagos – Birds – Blue-footed Boobies
The cutest seabird is certainly the blue-footed booby. The upright piercing gaze, the challenged beak and the sky-blue waddling feet that stand out from each other inevitably give him the aspect of a “cartoon sailor”. It is the most common representative of the gannet family, which is widespread almost everywhere in Galápagos. These live in large colonies, where they can be observed courting and breeding practically all year round.
Blue-footed boobies are good fliers. They prefer to fish near the coast in small groups. As soon as they have discovered something worthwhile, they plunge vertically down into the water at great speed. Only when they surface do they grab the fish. The male begins the courtship dance with polite bows and alternately lifts one sky-blue foot after the other, with the undersides of the feet pointing towards the female. If the female agrees, she gradually falls into the same rhythm.
Particularly striking is the so-called pointing towards the sky, in which the male stretches neck and beak straight into the air and twists the half-spread wings forward. Such a dance can drag on for hours. Once mated, boobies remain loyal to each other for life. The females lay 2 to 3 eggs, but depending on the food situation, only one young may grow up. While the blue-footed boobies are still quite clumsy on land, they swing up to become true show acrobats in the air. You can often admire their elaborate dive maneuvers. Fishing is preferably done in small “fighter squadrons” near the shore. The pointed beak always aims at the water surface during the reconnaissance flight. Once the floating “target” has been captured and precisely targeted, they rush towards it like missiles out of the blue. During the pleasurable courtship, the male performs the so-called “skypointing” to his beloved and the camera-armed audience.
The beak, rump and wingtips are stretched into the sky like receiving antennas. Elegant waltz turns, tactful foot lifting and seductive whistles are then supposed to finally soften the female. If he is completely enraptured by the temptations of the male, he begins to snort hoarsely and joins in the sensational love dance. During the graceful dance steps, the bride and groom stare at each other’s irresistible blue feet. Affectionate attentions such as gifted twigs are also not uncommon among them. Females and males are relatively easy to distinguish from each other during the extraordinary lovemaking. The female has “soft large” pupils, the male “prickly small”!
