The Story
This Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) perched on craggy sunbaked rock at Isla Terrón de Azúcar, a small rock island off Capurganá in Chocó, Colombia, photographed from a boat drifting offshore, its brown plumage, pale bill and bright facial skin clear in the strong light. Brown Boobies breed on islands and coasts throughout the tropical oceans. They nest only on the ground, and flocks plunge-dive for small fish, especially when predators drive the fish toward the surface.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/500 sec, f/16, ISO 800, −1 EV. IUCN lists the Brown Booby as Least Concern, but more and more of its nests are now built with marine debris, much of it plastic.
©2025 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) belongs to the family Sulidae (Boobies and Gannets) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2018), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List