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Archive 2013 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs

  
 
Charlie Shugart
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Like most hunting/fishing birds, both parents are involved in raising their babies.
Because these masked booby adults all looked alike to me, I was not sure which gender was attending the nests.
Even though I'm a city boy, however, I'm pretty sure which gender actually lays the eggs .
Two different nest sites:



Charlie Shugart 2013





Charlie Shugart 2013




Feb 11, 2013 at 04:57 PM
canon.eos30d
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Very nice set, Charlie. How long is the incubating occur for this bird?

- Tam



Feb 11, 2013 at 05:06 PM
KCollett
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Those are pretty rudimentary nests Charlie. I heard a story about a long-lived albatross today (different species though). The guy was saying that their eggs take a lot longer to incubate than most birds. The one in the narrative had laid between 30 & 35 eggs, and was already 5 or so when banded. Total age was over 50 and estimated mileage on the her was very high (equivalent to 6 trips to the moon and back). Not bad for a bird.


Feb 11, 2013 at 08:57 PM
surfnron
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


"Masked boobies"brings quite an image to my mind, but these two are nice anyway... ~Ron


Feb 11, 2013 at 08:58 PM
Charlie Shugart
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Thanks Tam, Ken and...uh... you too Ron, I guess .
Incubation is 45 days. This species barely make nests at all, so the first-born usually kicks the second-born out of the nest and it usually gets so little food that it dies. The second egg is just an "insurance" egg anyhow- so the species doesn't suffer from such siblicide.
Other boobies build better nests, and often two babies are raised successfully.
Charlie



Feb 11, 2013 at 10:43 PM
Lil Judd
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Very nice Charlie

very nice

Lil



Feb 11, 2013 at 10:58 PM
kmunroe
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


nicely done Charlie.. looking at their facial features they must be in the same family as northern gannets


Feb 12, 2013 at 04:26 AM
Jude Perera
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Neat captures Charlie.

Jude



Feb 12, 2013 at 04:38 AM
ashley138
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


A couple great shots! What a cool bird.


Feb 12, 2013 at 07:01 AM
eyelaser
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


See Charlie, paying attention in those high school biology classes really paid off. I would be hard pressed to call that a nest...more like a nesting area or more appropriately a piece of dirt with rocks...amazing how the eggs survive being out in the open like that. I guess there just aren't the same number of predators snapping them up.
Nice shots btw
Eric



Feb 12, 2013 at 07:45 AM
DonGut
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Nice info. Charlie. It doesn't seem right to have just one young boobie somehow! I'm always amazed how different nests are between similar species. Don


Feb 12, 2013 at 09:41 AM
Shasoc
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Nice shots, Charlie and very interesting infos
Socrate



Feb 12, 2013 at 10:23 AM
Conrad Tan
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


What neat looking birds


Feb 12, 2013 at 12:18 PM
David Leask
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Cool!
Thanks Charlie.
David



Feb 12, 2013 at 01:57 PM
CDaescher
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Charlie, two very nice images with good sharpness.
Thank you for the info and letting us see the interesting nesting area.
Chris



Feb 12, 2013 at 05:56 PM
Charlie Shugart
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Galapagos Islands- Masked boobies and eggs


Thank you Lil, kmunroe, Jude, Ashley, Eric, Don, Socrate, Conrad and David.
All the boobies are closely related to the gannets. And they are similarly sized.
A native species of hawk is about the only predator on the Galapagos, and they can take anything small- including fairly large iguanas. But the greatest danger to booby eggs and the very young is the heat from the sun- so they are always protected at the nest by one or the other of the parents.
Siblicide isn't uncommon. i.e. bald eagle newborns sometimes practice the procedure- depending on whether there's enough food. I've seen pics where the biggest baby is swallowing its sibling. Again- often the second egg is just an insurance - in case the first-born isn't healthy. When birds live long lives, over-production of babies is not critical to the survival of the species. Theoretically, each mating pair needs to raise two babies to reproduction age for the species to survive.
Charlie



Feb 12, 2013 at 06:08 PM





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