Andrea is still on the island. She is about 4 months old, and watched us with one eye. Can she imagine what has been said about her for the past 15 weeks?
She has been on the ground for so long, and she will have to stay there for even longer.
But her life is not as boring as the life of other frigatebirds, which are "altricial" (helpless at hatching). She gets our visit every week, and she is probably visited by her babysitter Fabio every day. While their lives go on, the scientific name of her booby friend has been changed. Scientists have established through mitochondrial DNA that masked boobies from the mainland are very different from our masked boobies in Galapagos. The new common name, therefore, here in the islands would be "Nazca boobies" and the scientific name Sula granti instead of Sula dactylatra (which is the mainland species).
Now Andrea has to share Fabio's attentions with a neighboring youngster. Today we found the masked booby in between his two adopted chicks. He was on the ground, unable to choose his favorite. Our favorite is no doubt Andrea.
She is growing so well, maybe because of the fact she has not only parents, but also a booby friend. With her eye she watches us, knowing she is the one special frigate we all care so much about.
