Masked Booby

Sula dactylatra

Beak

—

Feet

—

Crest

No crest

Breeds on Maldives and Lakshadweep?; visitor to W coastal waters. Large and robust booby. Adult largely white, with black mask and black flight feathers and tail. White head and neck, black tail and black tertials (which complete black trailing edge of wing) help to separate from adult Red-footed Booby at distance. Juvenile has brown head, neck and upperparts, with whitish collar and whitish scaling on upperparts; underbody white, and shows much white on underwing-coverts (with white extending onto primary covert sof underwing; compare with adult and juvenile Brown). Head, upperbody and upperwing-coverts of immature become increasingly white with age. Forages on the wing, scanning the sea, and on sighting fish or squid it plunge-dives at an angle. Flight is direct. with alternating periods of flapping and gliding. Seen in the region singly or in small groups. Pelagic.