The Birds of Fernandina, Galapagos

 

Between the Triassic (around 250 million years ago) and the end of the Cretaceous (65 million years ago), the ancestors of today’s birds were dinosaurs. When the dust settled from the meteor strike that caused the extinction of most of their relatives, those dinos that survived shook their feathers and got to work evolving into the great variety of birdlife on planet Earth today.

Over the 65 million years that have passed since then, birds have evolved dramatically. Some can glide across the world, barely flapping their wings, whilst others have foregone the gift of flight and can instead run faster than any Olympian. They have become musicians, trilling sweet melodies whose simplicity and clarity have inspired the greatest human composers. They have become architects and conceptual artists, constructing elaborate nests and even sculptures to aid in their courtship rituals. And they have imprinted themselves onto our human collective unconscious as symbols of freedom, possibility and divinity.

There are about 170 bird species in the Galapagos, with around 25 being found nowhere else in the world. Most iconic among them are the boobies, large gull-like creatures with extremely distinctive feet. Among the three booby species found here is the blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii), a flock of which I’m watching now, as I perch on a rock overlooking the sea.

The booby gets its name from the Spanish colloquialism ‘bobo’, an old word meaning ‘stupid’ or ‘fool’. Evolving without any natural, land-dwelling predators, boobies never developed a fear of primates, meaning they could be easily lured and shot, even caught by hand, tricked into the pot with bait held out in a sailor’s palm. This trait was immediately taken advantage of, and sailors began killing the birds excessively for recreation. Many islands were completely depopulated and ‘booby’ entered the English language as a word describing a naive or easily tricked person, ingeniously blaming these friendly, inquisitive birds for their own destruction.

I took to observing the boobies. They are fantastic hunters, mainly preying on fish, particularly sardines, which they catch by diving in unison at speeds of over 60mph (100km/h), wings tucked behind their backs, hitting the water like a volley of arrows. Then, they swim after their prey using their sharp underwater vision to catch any stragglers. Boobies can stay underwater for longer than most other birds thanks to their closed nostrils, which prevent seawater from going up their nasal passages. Which, if you’ve ever dive-bombed into a swimming pool without holding your nose, you’ll know is a big advantage.

The distinctive colour of these birds’ feet is due to one thing boobies like even more than fish: reproduction! The colour becomes deeper and richer thanks to carotenoid pigments found in the fish they hunt. Therefore, a bird with really bright blue feet is more likely to be a successful hunter, a trait they may pass on to their offspring. It is also believed by some scientists that blue feet show that the bird has a strong immune system, a result of  to all the antioxidant properties of carotenoids. This all makes a bright blue-booted booby an attractive mating prospect. 

Despite all this, the bluest feet in the world are pointless if you don’t flaunt them. So, to attract a mate, boobies will perform an elaborate dance, using fancy footwork to highlight how blue their feet are (take a look at the video gallery on the Boobies local spot to see some of their stunning moves). As the sun sets on my day with the boobies, I watch one individual perform its odd goose-stepping dance and wonder if I can pick up some moves for the next time I’m out on the town.