Brown booby
| Brown booby Temporal range: Middle Quaternary to recent
| |
|---|---|
| Male S. l. leucogaster, Fernando de Noronha, tropical western Atlantic | |
| Female S. l. leucogaster, Príncipe island, São Tomé and Príncipe | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: | Sulidae |
| Genus: | Sula |
| Species: | S. leucogaster
|
| Binomial name | |
| Sula leucogaster (Boddaert, 1783)
| |
| World range, with Brown booby subspecies in pink and purple: S. l. leucogaster S. l. plotus
| |
The brown booby (Sula leucogaster) is a large seabird in the booby and gannet family Sulidae, of which it is one of the most common and widespread species. It has a pantropical range, which overlaps with that of other booby species. The gregarious brown booby commutes and forages at low height over inshore waters. Flocks plunge-dive to take small fish, especially when these are driven near the surface by their predators. They nest only on the ground, and roost on solid objects rather than the water surface.