Nazca booby  (Sula granti)

Description

With its bright orange coloured beak and eyes, contrasting plumage tones, and black, bare facial skin, the Nazca booby is one of the Galapagos Islands’ most charismatic bird species. Previously considered to be a subspecies of the more widespread masked booby (Sula dactylatra), the Nazca booby is now recognised as a distinct species (3) (4). The head and body of the Nazca booby are almost entirely pristine white, except for the tail and the trailing edge of the wing, which are a rich, reddish tinged, chocolate brown (3) (5). The bill colour varies between populations on different islands, but is usually bright orange in the male and rosy pink or pinkish-orange in the female. The iris is orange, and stands out in stark contrast against the surrounding black facial skin, while the bare skin of the feet and legs can vary from olive to blue-grey. Juvenile Nazca boobies have greyish-brown plumage on the back, head and neck with diffuse, pale flecking (3).

Darwin Now is the British Council's contribution to the international celebration of the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150 year anniversary of the publication of On The Origin of Species
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