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Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2
Do you know what birds these are?
Nice pic's.  |
These are blue footed boobies. I was in a small zodiak crushing the coast line around one of the islands and got caught in middle of a feeding frenzy. The boobies circle over head en masse, and when a school of fish approaches the surface they all dive bomb in unison. When they approach the water they fold their wings back and become a lawn dart. It went on for around 5 minutes and the sound was indescribable. Imagine a diver nailing a perfect entry, and multiply that by the hundreds over and over again.
Plunge diving can be done from heights of 10–30.5 m (33–100 ft) and even up to 100 m (330 ft). These birds hit the water around 97 km/h (60 mph) and can go to depths of 25 m (82 ft) below the water surface. Their skulls contain special air sacs that protect the brain from enormous pressure. Prey are usually eaten while the birds are still under water.
An avian zoology lesson for the crowd.