Nazca Booby (Sula granti)
Genovesa Island
Galapagos
Ecuador
South America
A Nazca Booby chick can be seen in the first comment section.
The Nazca booby (Sula granti) is a booby found in the eastern Pacific Ocean, primarily on the Galápagos Islands and on Clipperton Island. The Revillagigedo Islands off Baja California may be the northwesternmost limit of its breeding range.
The Nazca booby was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the masked booby but is now recognized as a separate species. They differ in regard to ecological and morphological as well as DNA
Nazca boobies are known for practicing obligate siblicide. Mothers lay two eggs, several days apart. If both eggs hatch, the elder chick pushes its sibling out of the nest area, leaving it to die of thirst or cold.
The Nazca booby were found to contain high levels of male hormones in their newborns' blood. As a result, these chicks were prepared to kill their siblings as soon as they hatched. The elevated levels of male hormones, called androgens, increase aggression in both male and female chicks and prepare the birds to fight to the death as soon as they hatch.
The parent booby cannot intervene and the younger chick inevitably dies. Two eggs are laid so that if one gets destroyed or eaten, or the first chick dies soon after hatching, the second egg will produce an offspring.
Adults that have failed to breed frequently seek out nestlings in their colony, and during those visits they often bite, preen and even try to copulate with chicks. The causes of this behavior are not fully understood.
The Nazca booby is also the largest of the three booby species in the Galapagos. As with other boobies, the Nazca booby feeds entirely on fish and follows the same courtship ritual, although a bit less elaborate. Males and females look alike, so the best way to distinguish them is by their sounds: the males whistle and females quack. - Wikipedia
Nazca Booby (Sula granti)
Genovesa Island
Galapagos
Ecuador
South America
A Nazca Booby chick can be seen in the first comment section.
The Nazca booby (Sula granti) is a booby found in the eastern Pacific Ocean, primarily on the Galápagos Islands and on Clipperton Island. The Revillagigedo Islands off Baja California may be the northwesternmost limit of its breeding range.
The Nazca booby was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the masked booby but is now recognized as a separate species. They differ in regard to ecological and morphological as well as DNA
Nazca boobies are known for practicing obligate siblicide. Mothers lay two eggs, several days apart. If both eggs hatch, the elder chick pushes its sibling out of the nest area, leaving it to die of thirst or cold.
The Nazca booby were found to contain high levels of male hormones in their newborns' blood. As a result, these chicks were prepared to kill their siblings as soon as they hatched. The elevated levels of male hormones, called androgens, increase aggression in both male and female chicks and prepare the birds to fight to the death as soon as they hatch.
The parent booby cannot intervene and the younger chick inevitably dies. Two eggs are laid so that if one gets destroyed or eaten, or the first chick dies soon after hatching, the second egg will produce an offspring.
Adults that have failed to breed frequently seek out nestlings in their colony, and during those visits they often bite, preen and even try to copulate with chicks. The causes of this behavior are not fully understood.
The Nazca booby is also the largest of the three booby species in the Galapagos. As with other boobies, the Nazca booby feeds entirely on fish and follows the same courtship ritual, although a bit less elaborate. Males and females look alike, so the best way to distinguish them is by their sounds: the males whistle and females quack. - Wikipedia