Wildlife Around Las Vegas, Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii)

Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii)
Birds Around Las Vegas, Wildlife Around Las Vegas

Blue-footed Booby, adult

General Description: Blue-footed Boobies (Sula nebouxii) are large, stocky seabirds with heavy bills, bare faces (blue in season), and big blue feet. In adults, the wings are dark, the back is dark with some speckling, and the remainder is white or light (head has a gray wash). In juveniles, the head and tail are dark.

Taxonomy: Suliformes, Sulidae

Blue-footed Booby, juvenile

Favored Habitat: Open ocean with lots of fish to eat.

Where to Find: Don't look for Blue-footed Boobies around Las Vegas. Rather, look for them in the Gulf of California and south along the Pacific Coast to northwestern South America. Around Las Vegas, keep an eye out for them during migration in places like Lake Mead, where a confused bird showed up in August 2012. Blue-footed Boobies regularly show up at the Salton Sea in southern California.

Comments: These birds were photographed on the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador.