The Masked Booby at Fort Jefferson
A lot of excitement continues to spread through the Dry Tortugas National Park here at Fort Jefferson, Florida. With spring's migration coming to a fulfilling close, summer is beginning to titillate the avid birdwatcher with its magnificent seabird colony and other birds for which the area is rightly famous. Our birders are witnessing some of the more isolated trees and thickets around Fort Jefferson filled with the resting migratory birds.
Our favorite bird spotted this week is the Masked Booby, a waterbird of fairly large stature. Largest of the booby family, it is just under three feet in length with a wingspan just over five feet. This beautiful gull-like creature is white with a long, pointed black tail. It has a slightly yellow pointed bill and long, pointed wings. The black mask around the eyes and bill gave it mystery. Our visitors were happy to spot one perched on a buoy this week.
While the Masked Booby usually breeds in the Caribbean, over the Pacific Ocean, to Australia, Indonesia, and Hawaii, it can occasionally be found in the Gulf states of Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, wintering in open ocean waters. Since this is a fairly sedentary bird, it is rarely found very far from the breeding colonies. Only coming on land to breed and raise its young, the open ocean is where the Masked Booby lives. Although these birds are silent at sea, on their breeding grounds, they exhibit a wide range of quacking and hissing notes.
This bird prefers making its nest in shallow depressions on the ground. The female generally lays one or two eggs. Both parents share responsibilities for incubating the eggs, using their webbed feet for warming them. In about 43 days, the eggs hatch. If there are two eggs, the first one may hatch in as many as nine days ahead of the second one. Usually, only one egg of the two will hatch. However, if the second one hatches, the older chick will generally force the younger one from the nest causing it almost certain death due to the heat or predators. In fact, the parents will even move aside to allow the older chick to push out its younger sibling. This may seem morbid, but in doing this, the chances of survival of the older chick, increases. Actually, this gives pause to consider the entire Masked Boobys' existence. The parents are normally better able to care for only one chick at a time.
Of spectacular diving ability, the Masked Booby is able to plunge diagonally into the ocean at high speeds, sometimes from distances over 90 feet. This booby gets its fair share of flying fish and squid with no problem.
There are always special birds to be seen here at Fort Jefferson; and, at this time of the year, the Masked Booby is out in all its glory. Don't miss this special opportunity to see this beautiful bird!