Brown Booby

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Michaelmas Cay, Cairns, FNE Qld IMG_9861 20200725 - adult male on left (blue facial skin, pale greyish bill, grey-green legs),
female on right (yellowish bill & facial skin, cream-yellow legs). CLICK to see male (on left, 20190714) w. pale yellow iris,
female (on right, 20210516) w. iris w. greyish concentric rings.

Notes: Dark brown w. sharp cut to white underparts. Underwing pattern distinctive. Male: blue
face, pale yellow iris. Female: yellow-green face, iris greyish w. concentric rings. Juvenile:
chestnut brown w. pale underparts mottled, but always showing ghosted adult pattern.
Noisy nesting — F honks, M wheezy whistle. Marine tropics, spectacular plunge-dive for prey.

Range from Morcombe^©

Urangan Pier, Hervey Bay, SE Qld IMG_6593 20190715 - adult male

Urangan Pier, Hervey Bay, SE Qld IMG_6604 20190714 - adult female(?)

Michaelmas Cay, Cairns FNE Qld IMG_9372 20200725

Urangan Pier, Hervey Bay, SE Qld IMG_6086 20190714 - later juvenile: belly turning white.
CLICK to see early juvenile: dark mottling to belly.

Michaelmas Cay, Cairns FNE Qld IMG_1247 20170826 - male & chick

Michaelmas Cay, Cairns FNE Qld IMG_9926 20200725 - juvenile. Paler bill than juvenile Red-footed Booby. CLICK to see
a close-up of juvenile RfB on Christmas Island, 20190217. The structure & patterning of the bill and around the eye are quite different.

Urangan Pier, Hervey Bay, SE Qld IMG_6124 20190714 - juvenile plunge-diving for fish. CLICK for a split second later.

Michaelmas Cay, Cairns, FNE Qld IMG_2355 20210516 - pair nest building. She decides how.

Christmas Island, Indian Ocean MVI_2871+2877 20190217 - male sitting on a nest, then surveying surroundings.

Michaemas Cay, FNE Qld MVI_1350 20170926 - male stealing nesting materials.