Family: Sulidae, Boobies and Gannets view all from this family

Description 30" (76 cm). Adult has dark brown head, upperparts, and breast, with sharply contrasting white belly and white underwing coverts. Immature is gray-brown above and below; darker on head, wings, and tail.

Habitat Tropical and subtropical seas; breeds on coastal islands.

Nesting 1-3 pale blue or green eggs on bare ground in a slight mound of broken shells and scattered vegetation, usually at the edge of a cliff.

Range Worldwide in tropical seas. Summer visitor to Gulf Coast and Caribbean Sea; casually farther north in western Atlantic; occasionally seen in southern California’s Salton Sea; accidental along Pacific Coast.

Voice Usually silent, but gives a variety of quacking, grunting, and screeching calls on the breeding grounds.

Discussion Of the boobies seen off the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, this species is by far the most plentiful. Like the Northern Gannet, they dive for fish by plunging into the sea, but they also skim the surface to catch flying fish that leap clear of the surf. Frigatebirds often harass boobies, chasing them and forcing them to disgorge their prey, which the agile frigatebird then catches in midair. When on the wing, but not fishing, boobies often flap and glide in lines close to the surface of the waves and may resemble shearwaters. On land, these birds are dependent on a strong wind for takeoff from a tree or other elevated perch. On calm days they rest in vegetation or on the ground.