Read Footed Booby bird

Keywords: Australia Great Barrier Reef Coral Sea Queensland Thelning

Filmed 1993 at Lihou Reef. Abour 630Kg WNW of Cairns.The Red-footed Booby is the smallest of all boobies at about 70 centimetres (28 in) in length and with a wingspan of up to 1 metre (3.3 ft). It has red legs, and its bill and throat pouch are coloured pink and blue. This species breeds on islands in most tropical oceans. When not breeding it spends most of the time at sea, and is therefore rarely seen away from breeding colonies. It nests in large colonies, laying one chalky blue egg in a stick nest, which is incubated by both adults for 44–46 days. The nest is usually placed in a tree or bush, but rarely it may nest on the ground. It may be three months before the young first fly, and five months before they make extensive flights. Red-footed Boobies are spectacular divers, plunging into the ocean at high speeds to catch prey. They mainly eat small fish or squid which gather in groups near the surface.