Blue-footed Booby, on Isla de la Plata – 16 Photos and a Video

With its bright blue feet, claw-like beak, perfectly round lemon-lime eyes and a home on an exotic distance locale, a Blue-footed Booby isn’t a bird you’ll likely ever forget. The fun name helps, too.

The Blue-Footed Booby, or Sula nebouxii, is an unusual marine bird whose native habitats are tropical and sub-tropical islands on the Pacific Ocean. It can be found along coastlines from the Gulf of California to Peru, but is most common and indeed iconic on the Galapagos Islands, where about half of all breeding pairs nest.

These photos were taken on Isla de la Plata, a small island off the coast of Ecuador that is oftentimes referred to as the ‘Poor Man’s Galapagos’ since many of the same birds can be found there. Part of Ecuador’s Machalilla National Park, it’s less than two hours by boat from the town of Puerto Lopez, a trip that comes at a fraction of the cost of travel and lodging to and on the Galapagos.

On average, the birds are 81cm (32in) long and weigh 1.5kg (3.3 lbs), with the female slightly larger. The male has larger feet that are lighter in color and a smaller pupil.

Like Nazca Boobies, which I posted about previously here, blue-footed boobies also practice a form of siblicide, rubbing some of the polish from the cuteness factor.

Its diet consists mainly of small fish which it hunts and collects by diving. It’s a fascinating display which I chose to simply watch instead of photograph.

From Wikipedia:

Plunge diving can be done from heights of 10–30.5 m (33–100 ft) and even up to 100 m (330 ft). These birds hit the water around 97 km/h (60 mph) and can go to depths of 25 m (82 ft) below the water surface. Their skulls contain special air sacs that protect the brain from enormous pressure. Prey are usually eaten while the birds are still underwater.

That doesn’t quite do justice to the force and speed with which they hit the water’s surface. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

But most will observe them on land where they are at their least graceful. Some appear downright clumsy which is the likely story behind their name. ‘Bobo’ is the Spanish word for stupid –one I’m quite familiar with ???? — which some have suggested as the source of its common name.

I’d never characterize them as such, but they can be very loud. Here’s a brief video to give you a general idea of their raucousness.

13 more photos below.

More:

• Blue-footed Booby at Birds of the World
• Blue-footed Booby at BirdLife DataZone
• Blue-footed Booby at eBird
• Blue-footed Booby at Avibase
• Blue-footed Booby at Wikipedia
• Blue-footed Booby at Oiseaux.net
• Blue-footed Booby at iNaturalist

Originally published on my blog, Piran Café, which is no longer being updated and moved here on 25 June, 2017. Reprocessed photos and updated links added on 10 August, 2025. Last updated on 26 November 2025.