Holiday snaps

January 23, 2010 • 12:10 pm

The courtship of the blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) is a droll dance, involving with slapping of turqoise feet on the ground, that never fails to charm visitors to the Galápagos.   This bird is not endemic to the archipelago but is one of its iconic animals.  The male birds are highly sexed, and I saw many of them performing courtship dances when no female was in sight; these involve foot-slapping, brandishing of pebbles and twigs, and the climactic raising of head, tail and wings displayed below (they also utter a strange whistling cry).  The female, who has an egg, isn’t interested.

That photo was mine, but here’s someone else’s video from YouTube.  Ignore the cheesy music, and note how the booby’s walk resembles that of Charlie Chaplin’s little tramp.

7 thoughts on “Holiday snaps

  1. Why is it that nature films are so often ruined by bloody awful music when the natural sounds or lack of such add much more?
    Am of the same view about aviation movies, especially when the music drowns out the sexy sound of a radial engine!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *