February 25, 2013
Boobies!
Thought that would get your attention you perv. So below is the Nazca Booby. It's found in the Galapagos, on Clipperton Island and a few islands off the Baja Penninsula. Adults lay two eggs but once hatched the siblings will fight and one will get pushed out of the nests. The two eggs also serve as protection just in case one of the eggs is stolen or doesn't hatch.
Here is a napping male and female. A nicely symetrical matched set. Weird Nazca booby fact: unpaired adults will sometimes try to single out chicks and bite, groom or occasionally try to mate with them. Science doesn't know why yet.
And here is a nice new fluffy chick who has commited siblicide. He is extremely well fed and healthy so its parents are doing a good job bringing back food for it. These birds are quite friendly and unafraid of humans. We were able to get close without stressing the birds. At the first sign of them being upset the plan was to back off and leave them alone. Neither the adults nor the fledglings had a problem with our presence.
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[Obligatory tasteless bird joke here]! Poor birds, saddled with a name that nobody can say with a straight face. :)
ReplyDeleteNice shots! Birds are notoriously difficult to get close to - is this the result of a fantastic long lens, or are they really tame?
All the wildlife in the Galapagos is stunningly tame since its never really dealt with man in an invasive or hunter capacity for hundreds of years so you can get right up to many of the animals.
ReplyDeleteThere is a minimum safe distance they request which is vaguely monitored by your guide to be sure the animals don't get harassed by tourists but its generally very easy to get close to things. That said we also had a 300mm lens with us.