Even though the name might seem a bit ridiculous, the blue-footed booby is a well known species of bird that inhabits the Galapagos Islands. There is a large decrease in numbers of these animals due to a lack of breeding.
Blue-footed boobies are clearly named after their vibrantly colored feet, which males show off during mating season. The brighter the color, the more attractive they are considered. Their blue webbed feet are also used to cover their young and to keep them warm. In addition to the bright feet, blue-footed boobies are well known for their mating dance. Their current population is estimated to be 6,400 birds.
NOS Themes:
- Science is based on evidence: we need to see why the bird population is decreasing
- Science is collaborative: many scientists and biologists have to work together to increase the number of blue-footed boobies
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/science/earth/blue-footed-boobies-a-galapagos-treasure-under-threat.html?ref=science&_r=0
Great summary of the article! The blue-footed boobies' situation of population decrease could be a density-dependent factor; if the blue-footed boobies had a recent increase in their population, this would have led to a recent decrease in the sardine population. Thus, there would be less sardines for the next generation of blue-footed boobies. This density-dependent factor is a predator-prey population flux. Of course, since the reason of the sardines' decrease in population is not determine, the preceding can only be considered a theory. This website states that a density-independent factor that is connected to the blue-footed boobies' reproductive success is El Nino (http://www.savegalapagos.org/bluefootedboobyday/blue-footed-booby-facts.shtml). No matter what the cause of the blue-footed boobies' population decrease, I think we can all agree that it is worth it to save these delightfully-colored, amusingly-named birds.
ReplyDeleteI was curious why they have such blue feet besides it being for mating and I found that carotenoid proteins in their diet are concentrated in their feet giving it the blue color. Also I learned that males with brighter feet are more healthy than those with dull feet because they have more of the proteins in their diet. http://galapagosblog.org/2013/09/05/why-do-boobies-have-blue-feet/
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