Genovesa Island
The “island of the birds” at its best! Genovesa, with a surface area of just 5.4 square miles, is considered to be one of the true jewels in the archipelago. It has been estimated that close to one million birds consider this beautiful island their home. This time of the year is certainly spectacular. Male frigatebirds, with their bright red gular sacks fully inflated, are everywhere to be seen. The males are anxiously trying to attract females flying overhead. Some of them have already been successful and are nesting with their brand new brides.
Red- footed boobies, with their comical and unusual appearance, are not less admired. Their trademark is their unusual and distinctive bright red feet. These feet are not only attractive but very useful. A major difference between this booby species and the other two that inhabit the Galapagos (Nazca and blue-footed) is that red-footed boobies nest on trees and shrubs. Red-footed boobies can grab branches, whereas their Nazca and blue-footed cousins cannot. Their colorful feet are highly adapted by being prehensile! This unique trait provides them with a very wide range of roosting and nesting places. They do not depend just on ground space. A very common question I am asked about this booby species is: why do they have red feet? Well, there is a theory that attempts to explain the coloration. The answer seems to be related with their diet rather than with structural or physical conditions such as incidence of light. Red-footed boobies ingest pigments called carotenoids present in some fish species they trap. After passing through metabolic changes these pigments are transferred to their feet and voila! We have a wonderful red color!
The “island of the birds” at its best! Genovesa, with a surface area of just 5.4 square miles, is considered to be one of the true jewels in the archipelago. It has been estimated that close to one million birds consider this beautiful island their home. This time of the year is certainly spectacular. Male frigatebirds, with their bright red gular sacks fully inflated, are everywhere to be seen. The males are anxiously trying to attract females flying overhead. Some of them have already been successful and are nesting with their brand new brides.
Red- footed boobies, with their comical and unusual appearance, are not less admired. Their trademark is their unusual and distinctive bright red feet. These feet are not only attractive but very useful. A major difference between this booby species and the other two that inhabit the Galapagos (Nazca and blue-footed) is that red-footed boobies nest on trees and shrubs. Red-footed boobies can grab branches, whereas their Nazca and blue-footed cousins cannot. Their colorful feet are highly adapted by being prehensile! This unique trait provides them with a very wide range of roosting and nesting places. They do not depend just on ground space. A very common question I am asked about this booby species is: why do they have red feet? Well, there is a theory that attempts to explain the coloration. The answer seems to be related with their diet rather than with structural or physical conditions such as incidence of light. Red-footed boobies ingest pigments called carotenoids present in some fish species they trap. After passing through metabolic changes these pigments are transferred to their feet and voila! We have a wonderful red color!
