Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii), USFWS Office, Yuma, Yuma County

This Blue-footed Booby was a distressed bird found walking (of all places) in the disturbed storage yard behind the US Fish and Wildlife Service Office in Yuma on 22 July 2010.  The bird was captured and placed in the holding pens at this facility where it was photographed by Susanna Henry.  It was taken to the Sonny Bono NWR the following day for rehabilitation.

Resident in the nearby Sea of Cortez south of Yuma. Individuals (often juveniles) very casually wander into southern Arizona during the summer and fall. Since the Arizona Bird Committee was formed in 1972, there have only been 3 accepted records of this species in Arizona, the last in 1996, although there is a documented report from Martinez Lake last year.  Three other reports were published in North American Birds but not documented to the committee.  Prior to that time there were about half a dozen reports mentioned in Monson and Phillips (1981).

The white feathering on the nape, the pale fringing on the back, the pale base to the tail, grayish legs and feet, and the lack of any contrast between the dark head and the paler chest typically separate this from juvenile Brown Booby.  Brown Booby is also resident in the Sea of Cortez and has also occurred casually in Arizona.

22 July 2010, photo by Susanna Henry