Red Footed Booby: The Galapagos Tree-Nesting Seabird

The red footed booby is the smallest and shyest of the three Galapagos booby species, and the only one that nests in trees. It has bright red feet but two colour forms, and the best place to see it is the giant colony on Genovesa, with a smaller, land-accessible group at Punta Pitt on San Cristobal. That tree-nesting quirk makes the red footed booby habitat unlike any other booby’s in the islands. For most land-based travellers the red footed booby galapagos sighting happens on a San Cristobal day trip to Punta Pitt.

Most visitors meet the blue-footed booby first — it nests right by the trail and practically poses for photos. The red-foot is the opposite: it lives out on the remote islands and perches up in the bushes, so spotting one feels like you have been let in on a secret. It is one stop on the wider Galapagos birds trail, and the mix-up with its cousin the blue-footed booby is half the fun. If you want help fitting this into your trip, tell us what you’re after — free quote within 24 hours.

What is the red footed booby?

The species (Sula sula) is the smallest of the booby family. Adults always have bright red feet and a pale blue bill, but unlike its cousins it comes in two colour forms, or morphs: a common brown form and a rarer white form. In the Galapagos most birds are the brown morph.

They are superb long-distance fliers that hunt far out to sea, plunge-diving and snatching flying fish from the air. That ocean-going lifestyle is why you rarely see them around the inhabited islands — they nest on the most remote outer islands instead. They hunt far offshore, plunge-diving for flying fish and squid, and — like all members of the family Sulidae — they are built for life at sea.

Red Footed Booby Habitat: The Only Booby That Nests in Trees

Here is the fact that makes this bird special: this is the only booby that nests in trees and bushes. The blue-footed and Nazca boobies both nest on the bare ground, but the red-footed’s grasping feet let it perch and build a flimsy stick nest up in the mangroves and salt-bush.

It is a clever adaptation. By nesting off the ground on predator-free islands, the chicks stay safe, and the adults can come and go from the sea without competing for ground space with the bigger boobies. The IUCN lists it as least-concern globally; for the rest of the islands’ fauna see our Galapagos wildlife guide.

Red Footed Booby Galapagos: Where to See It

The red footed booby Galapagos population is centred on the northern island of Genovesa, home to one of the largest colonies of the species anywhere. To find the red footed booby in Galapagos you have to go to the outer islands — this is not a trail-side bird like its blue-footed cousin. The two reliable spots:

• Genovesa (Tower Island) — home to the largest red-footed booby colony in the world, tens of thousands of birds. Genovesa is a remote northern island reached on Galapagos cruises.
• Punta Pitt, San Cristobal — the one place you can see all three booby species in a single walk, and the most realistic spot to reach on a land-based trip.

Punta Pitt sits at the far northeastern tip of San Cristobal; two of the island’s easier beach stops are Cerro Brujo, the powder-white beach on the northwest coast, and Playa Mann, the sea lion beach in town.

Best time: they breed more or less year-round, so any season works. Go early and bring a zoom lens — the birds sit high in the bushes rather than at your feet. You can experience it firsthand on our 10-day complete Galápagos tour.

Red Footed Booby vs Blue Footed Booby vs the Nazca

The Galapagos has three boobies and telling them apart is easy once you know the trick: The red footed booby vs blue footed booby question is the one I answer most on the islands.

• Red footed booby: smallest, red feet, nests in trees, lives on remote islands.
• Blue footed booby: famous turquoise feet and comical mating dance, nests on the ground near the trails.
• Nazca booby: the largest of the three, white with a black mask and an orange bill, nests on the ground in big colonies.

See all of them, plus the rest of the cast, in my guide to Galapagos islands animals.

Quick red footed booby facts

A few red footed booby facts worth knowing before you go: A few quick red footed booby facts before you go:

• Species: Sula sula — the smallest booby in the world.
• It is the only booby that nests in trees rather than on the ground.
• It comes in two colour morphs (brown and white); the feet are always red.
• Genovesa in the Galapagos holds the largest colony on Earth.
• It is listed as least-concern but the population is slowly declining.

Brown or White? The Two Color Morphs

Here is something that trips up first-time visitors: the species comes in two completely different colour morphs. Most of the birds you will see in the Galapagos are the brown morph — coffee-brown all over, with the signature red feet and a pale blue bill. A smaller number are the white morph, which looks almost like a different species: bright white body, black wingtips, same red feet. Both nest in the same colonies, sometimes on neighbouring branches. Worldwide the white morph usually dominates; in the Galapagos the brown morph runs the show — one more way these islands rewrite the rulebook.

Breeding: A Single Egg in the Treetops

Unlike its ground-nesting cousins, the red-foot builds a flimsy stick nest up in a mangrove or saltbush. The female lays just one egg — a real gamble — and both parents take turns incubating it for around 45 days. The chick hatches as a fluffy white ball with grey feet, not red; the colour comes later, with maturity and a steady diet. Both parents feed it for up to three months before it fledges. It is slow, careful parenting, which is exactly why a single bad El Niño year, when the fish vanish, can knock a colony back hard.

Are Red Footed Boobies Endangered or Endemic to Galapagos?

Two myths I correct on almost every trip. First, this bird is not endemic to the Galapagos — it is a pantropical seabird found across the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, from Hawaii to Belize. The Galapagos simply hosts one of the largest colonies on the planet. Second, globally the IUCN lists it as least-concern, so the species is not endangered — but the Galapagos population has had a rough run: the introduced avian vampire fly (Philornis downsi), plastic and fishing pressure, and El Niño food crashes have all taken a toll. The encouraging part, per the Charles Darwin Foundation, is that the Punta Pitt colony on San Cristobal has shown a real recovery in recent years.

Where the Red-Footed Booby Is, and Why It Is the Odd One Out

Of the three booby species here, this is the one you have to make an effort to see. It is the smallest, and it is the only one that nests in trees and shrubs rather than on open ground, which is why its strongholds are the wooded areas of Genovesa Island rather than the flat colonies of the central islands.

That also means it is the booby most land-based travelers miss. The blue-footed booby is reliably seen on day trips from Santa Cruz, and the Nazca booby shares the Espanola and Genovesa cliffs alongside the swallow-tailed gull. Our Galapagos birds guide sets out which species are realistic on which itinerary.

Frequently asked questions about the red footed booby

Seeing the red-footed boobies up close

The red footed booby is the booby for travellers who like a challenge — a little harder to find, a little more wild, and all the more rewarding when you finally spot those red feet gripping a branch above a turquoise bay.

You can read more about the species at the Galapagos Conservation Trust and the Charles Darwin Foundation. Ready to go find all three boobies?

Header photo: David Broad, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.