Brown Booby, Sula leucogaster
Bill Rowe
Perhaps you’re thinking, “Wait…there’s some mistake. This is not a Missouri bird!” And you would have been right until nine days ago, when a Brown Booby was discovered along the Current River in southernmost Missouri. This bird, which sat placidly on a favorite perch much of the time, was readily viewed by many birders who made the trip by car and then by boat. Gone as of Friday, it was the first of its species ever to show up in our state, and its appearance seemed all the stranger since its normal habitat is warm seacoasts and open ocean. In fact, it’s a perfect example of vagrancy in birds—the tendency to wander unpredictably and show up in places where they are unexpected, simply because they have wings and their directional systems may go awry. It’s also a good example of what is usually meant by a “rare” bird—namely, one that is common somewhere else but not here! (There are, of course, birds that are nationally and globally rare.) Indeed, not only are Brown Boobies common in the tropics and subtropics, their numbers have been increasing and pushing northward over the past decade or two, to such an extent that they are now seen along our southern coasts much more often, probably as a result of the warming climate, and also inland, in states like Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Tennessee—and now Missouri. One might almost say it was overdue. Once the formality of acceptance by the Missouri Bird Records Committee is completed, the Brown Booby will be #436 on the list of birds that have ever been known to occur here.
IDENTIFICATION: Unlike anything else, and quickly recognized by many from the first photographs that were circulated on August 8. Adult Brown Boobies have a bright white belly contrasting with the rest of their dark-chocolate plumage; juveniles may be entirely brown; and those that are in between, like the Missouri bird (top photo), can be termed “subadults.” World-wide there are various species of boobies, as well the related gannets, which are basically the same but mostly nest in colder climates.
ST. LOUIS STATUS: Not here yet, but in the words of a famous ballplayer, “You never know.”
Learn more and listen to the calls of Brown Boobies here.
Photo Credit: Doug Hommert
