Meet the Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) Also called the “masked gannet” or “blue-faced…

JAN 08 2026 · 19:28

Meet the Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) 🎭🐦 Also called the “masked gannet” or “blue-faced booby,” they are the largest of all booby species. You can easily identify them by the dark, mask-like patch of skin around their face and throat, which contrasts with their pale yellow bills and yellow eyes. 🤿To catch their favourite meal (flying fish), they can drop from heights of up to 100 metres to hit the ocean at high speeds. Although silent at sea, their colonies erupt in noise, with males having a distinctive whistle, and females having a loud honk 🎺 They prefer nesting in colonies on remote atolls and cays, choosing flat, open ground to lay their eggs. 🤍 Although they are considered a species of “Least Concern,” their populations are decreasing due to climate change and the overfishing of tuna (which helped drive prey to the surface for the boobies to catch).