Wednesday, March 6, 2013

beautiful animals of blue footed booby bird photos

The Blue-footed Booby is on average 81 cm (32 in) long and weighs 1.5 kg (3.3 lb), with females being slightly larger than males. The species can reach 70 to 90 cm in height, with a wingspan of up to 1.5 m.The wings are long and pointed, and are brown in color. The neck and head are brown with white streaks and the belly and underside are white.The booby's eyes are placed on either side of their bill and oriented towards the front, enabling excellent binocular vision. This animal eyes are yellow, with males having more yellow in their irises than the females. The Blue-footed Booby has permanently closed nostrils made for diving, necessitating breathing through the corners of their mouths. Their webbed feet range from a pale turquoise to a deep aquamarine in color. Males and younger birds are observed to have lighter feet than females.
The Blue-footed Booby's diet consists mainly of fish. These are specialized fish eaters feeding on small school fish like sardines, anchovies, mackerel, and flying fish. They also feed on squid and offal. The Blue-foot dives into the ocean, sometimes from a great height, and can swim underwater in pursuit of its prey. It hunts singly, in pairs, or in larger flocks. Blue-foots travel in parties of about 12 to areas of water with large schools of small fish. 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, pointing their bodies down like arrows and diving into the water in unison.
Plunge diving can be done from heights of 33–100 ft (10–30.5 m) and even up to 330 ft (100 m). These birds hit the water around 60 mph (97 km/h) and can go to depths of 82 ft (25 m) below the water surface. The specie's skulls contain special air sacs that protect the brain from the enormous pressure.The prey are usually eaten while the birds are still underwater. Surprisingly, individuals do not eat with the hunting group, preferring to eat on their own, usually in the early morning or late afternoon. Males and females fish differently, which may contribute to why Blue-foots, unlike other boobies, raise more than one young. The male is smaller and the tail is larger for its body, which enables the male to fish in shallow areas instead of just deep waters. The tail can flatten out, enabling him to change direction in the shallow water. The female is larger and can carry more food, which is regurgitated to the young at the nest. The males feed the young for the first part of the incubation period, because the males can bring back food more quickly than the female. When the demand for more food increases, the female begins to provide the food to the young.for more pics......

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