Sula sula by Gregg Yan 01🐦

Photo: Gregg Yan · CC BY-SA 3.0

SpeciesSuliformesSulidae
Birds

🐦Red-footed Booby

Sula sula (Linnaeus, 1766)

The red-footed booby is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. Adults always have red feet, but the colour of the plumage varies. They are powerful and agile fliers, harnessing the wind to fly efficiently, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings. They forage by catching flying fish from above the ocean's surface and by performing shallow dives. They are found widely in the tropics, and breed colonially in coastal regions, especially isolated islands such as St. Brandon, Mauritius, and the Chagos Archipelago. Although its population is declining, it is considered to be a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It faces threats from climate change, competition with fisheries, human disturbance, and invasive species.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Photos
2
Measurements
13
vs you
≈ 1/60th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2021.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
1.03 kg
Body length
0.77 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
23 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Red-footed Booby

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
1.03 kgrecord 1.5 kg · SeaLifeBase
AVONET
Other figures ↓

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

By sex

  • Female1.07 kgWikidataQ217122
  • Male928 kgWikidataQ217122

Figures vary

  • 1.02 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
0.77 mmaximum recorded, total length
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Tail length
0.19 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.37 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.08 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.04 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
23 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
44 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
1
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Carnivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Marine
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Aerial
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
1 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Red-footed Booby yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderSuliformes
  5. ›familySulidae
  6. ›genusSula
  7. ›speciesSula sula
Full lineage
  1. orderSauria
  2. classBirds · Aves
  3. familySulidae
  4. genusSula
All 11 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
  10. familySulidae
  11. genusSula
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More about the Red-footed Booby

In other languages
mascarell cama-roig (ca), terej červenonohý (cs), Rødfodet Sule (da), Rotfußtölpel (de), Sula sula (es), punajalkasuula (fi) … and 26 more languages
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