Española Island
This is the story of a chick that has been born on Española Island. We have named him “twisted beak” because its upper part of the beak is indeed misshapen. Right now the baby is about three weeks old, and has the protection and care of its parents. For the coming months he will be able to grow safely, as both parents will provide him food. Male and female take turns in the rearing of their young one; while one forages at sea, its partner stays in the nest protecting the chick from predators and from the elements. If the sun is too bright, the parent will interpose its body in between the sun and the baby, or if it is too windy, the parent will keep the baby warm underneath its wings feathers.
“Twisted beak” is growing quickly and is pretty healthy, and within a few weeks, neither of the parents will need to stay on the nest to protect him from predators. When boobies are four to five weeks old they are so big that not even the main predator, the Galápagos hawk, represents trouble. If you ask me whether “Twisted beak” will make it to adulthood, then I don’t know what to say. Or to be honest, I wouldn’t have the heart to tell you the obvious. Blue-footed boobies are divers; they plunge in the water at speeds of sometimes sixty miles per hour. At such speeds, they need to have a perfect body design and several special adaptations. Boobies have air sacs that protect their brains and main organs from the impact. They have webbed feet to swim back up from the depths that can reach fifteen feet below the surface. They also have a nictitating membrane, a kind of eyelid that protects their eyes and allows them to focus underwater. “Twisted beak” probably has all of these important characteristics, but he lacks one of the most essential ones. The perfect and straight beak aerodynamically shaped to go through the air and into the water at high speeds.
This is the story of a chick that has been born on Española Island. We have named him “twisted beak” because its upper part of the beak is indeed misshapen. Right now the baby is about three weeks old, and has the protection and care of its parents. For the coming months he will be able to grow safely, as both parents will provide him food. Male and female take turns in the rearing of their young one; while one forages at sea, its partner stays in the nest protecting the chick from predators and from the elements. If the sun is too bright, the parent will interpose its body in between the sun and the baby, or if it is too windy, the parent will keep the baby warm underneath its wings feathers.
“Twisted beak” is growing quickly and is pretty healthy, and within a few weeks, neither of the parents will need to stay on the nest to protect him from predators. When boobies are four to five weeks old they are so big that not even the main predator, the Galápagos hawk, represents trouble. If you ask me whether “Twisted beak” will make it to adulthood, then I don’t know what to say. Or to be honest, I wouldn’t have the heart to tell you the obvious. Blue-footed boobies are divers; they plunge in the water at speeds of sometimes sixty miles per hour. At such speeds, they need to have a perfect body design and several special adaptations. Boobies have air sacs that protect their brains and main organs from the impact. They have webbed feet to swim back up from the depths that can reach fifteen feet below the surface. They also have a nictitating membrane, a kind of eyelid that protects their eyes and allows them to focus underwater. “Twisted beak” probably has all of these important characteristics, but he lacks one of the most essential ones. The perfect and straight beak aerodynamically shaped to go through the air and into the water at high speeds.
