Nazca Booby (Sula granti)

We encountered good numbers of these boobies following our cruise ship off Mexico and Central America. They were especially common in areas of warm water with flying fish, a major prey item for Nazca Booby.

This species has been split from the similar Masked Booby (S. dactylatra). It differs in having an orange rather than yellow bill. Nazca Booby is named for the Nazca tectonic plate where its breeding range is centered. It nests on the Galpagos and Malpelo islands with smaller colonies on La Plata island (Ecuador), and Clipperton and San Benedicto islands (Mexico). On Clipperton, it breeds side-by-side with Masked Booby with limited hybridization.