CreatureData

Blue-footed booby

Sula nebouxii Milne-Edwards, 1882

LCLeast Concernbirds

The blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) is a bird in the family Sulidae, part of the order Suliformes. It is a medium-sized bird with an adult body mass of 1.52 kg, and our sources report adult weights from 1.283 to 1.801 kg.

Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)
Photo: SantiagoGG · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the blue-footed booby

The blue-footed booby is a carnivorous aquatic predator of marine habitats with an aerial lifestyle, and it is partially migratory. It lays 2 eggs per clutch with an incubation period of 41 days, reaches sexual maturity at 3 years, and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Weight
1.28 kg – 1.8 kgsrc for Weight
Length
up to 90 cmsrc for Length
Lifespan
17.7 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
18 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
41 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
2.98 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.25src for Litters or clutches a year
Reproduction
Eggssrc for Reproduction
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the blue-footed booby

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)
Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)
Ekki3 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)
Richard Ricciardi · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.

Where does the blue-footed booby live?

Not recorded

What is the blue-footed booby?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) is a species of marine bird in the family Sulidae. The species, native to subtropical and tropical regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean, is one of six species of the genus Sula, commonly known as boobies. It is easily recognizable by its distinctive bright blue feet, which is a sexually selected trait and a product of its diet. The male displays his feet in an elaborate mating ritual by lifting them up and down while strutting before the female. Females are slightly larger than males and can measure up to 90 cm (35 in) long with a wingspan up to 1.5 m (5 ft).

The natural breeding habitats of the blue-footed booby are the tropical and subtropical islands of the Pacific Ocean. It can be found from the Gulf of California south along the western coasts of Central and South America to Peru. About half of all breeding pairs nest on the Galápagos Islands. Its diet mainly consists of fish, which it obtains by diving and sometimes swimming underwater in search of its prey. It sometimes hunts alone, but usually hunts in groups.

The blue-footed booby usually lays one to three eggs at a time. The species practices asynchronous hatching, in contrast to many other species in which incubation begins when the last egg is laid and all chicks hatch together. This results in a growth inequality and size disparity between siblings, leading to facultative siblicide in times of food scarcity. This makes the blue-footed booby an important model for studying parent–offspring conflict and sibling rivalry.

From the Wikipedia article “Blue-footed booby” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue-footed_booby&oldid=1383959327), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the blue-footed booby endangered?

The blue-footed booby is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the blue-footed booby classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderSuliformes
  5. familySulidae
  6. genusSula
  7. SpeciesSula nebouxii Milne-Edwards, 1882

Synonyms Sula gossi

Other names and names in other languages (54)
  • أطيش أزرق القدمينArabic
  • الاطيش ازرق القدمينEgyptian Arabic
  • Mavi ayaqlı sümsük quşuAzerbaijani
  • Синьокрак рибоядBulgarian
  • Morskoul treid glasBreton
  • mascarell camablauCatalan
  • terej modronohýCzech
  • bwbi troedlasWelsh
  • Blåfodet SuleDanish
  • BlaufußtölpelGerman
  • Γαλαζοπόδαρη ΣούλαGreek
  • Blukrura suloEsperanto
  • blupieda suloEsperanto
  • Bobo pata azulSpanish
  • Bobo Patas AzulesSpanish
  • Piquero camanaySpanish
  • Piquero de patas azulesSpanish
  • Piquero PatiazulSpanish
  • sinijalg-suulaEstonian
  • بوبی پاآبیPersian
  • sinijalkasuulaFinnish
  • Fou à pieds bleusFrench
  • Búbaí chosghormIrish
  • Boobee gorrym-chassaghManx
  • סולה כחולת-רגלHebrew
  • kéklábú szulaHungarian
  • Կապտաոտ խոլահավArmenian
  • Angsa batu kaki biruIndonesian
  • Bláfætt súlaIcelandic
  • Sula piediazzurriItalian
  • アオアシカツオドリJapanese
  • 푸른발얼가니새Korean
  • žydrakojis padūkėlisLithuanian
  • zilkāju sullaLatvian
  • blauwpootgentDutch
  • BlauwvoetgentDutch
  • blåfotsuleNorwegian
  • głuptak niebieskonogiPolish
  • نیلے پیروالا بوبیWestern Panjabi
  • atobá-de-pés-azuisPortuguese
  • alcatraz-de-pés-azuisPortuguese
  • Patola-de-pés-azuisPortuguese
  • Голубоногая олушаRussian
  • sula modronoháSlovak
  • modronogi strmoglavecSlovenian
  • Плавонога блунаSerbian
  • Plavonoga blunaSerbian
  • blåfotad sulaSwedish
  • นกบูบบีตีนฟ้าThai
  • Mavi Ayaklı SümsükTurkish
  • Mavi ayaklı sümsük kuşuTurkish
  • сула блакитноногаUkrainian
  • 蓝脚鲣鸟Chinese
  • 藍腳鰹鳥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the blue-footed booby

Other species in the same genus Sula.

CompareBlue-footed booby vs Masked boobyBlue-footed booby vs Brown boobyBlue-footed booby vs Red-footed boobyBlue-footed booby vs Peruvian booby

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the blue-footed booby?

The blue-footed booby is a bird in the family Sulidae and the order Suliformes.

How heavy is the blue-footed booby?

An adult Blue-footed booby weighs 1.52 kg, with our sources reporting adult weights from 1.283 to 1.801 kg.

What does the blue-footed booby eat?

The blue-footed booby is a carnivore and an aquatic predator.

Is the blue-footed booby endangered?

No. The blue-footed booby is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

How long does the blue-footed booby live?

The blue-footed booby has a lifespan of 17.67 years, with sources reporting up to 18 years.

How many eggs does the blue-footed booby lay?

The blue-footed booby lays 2 eggs per clutch, with 1.25 clutches per year, and the eggs are incubated for 41 days.

Does the blue-footed booby migrate?

The blue-footed booby is partially migratory.

Who named the blue-footed booby?

The blue-footed booby was named Sula nebouxii by Milne-Edwards, 1882.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-footed-booby

MLA

“Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-footed-booby.

BibTeX
@misc{blue_footed_booby_2026,
  title = {Blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-footed-booby},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}