Genovesa Island
The frenzy of frigate courtship is winding down on the island of Genovesa. As a matter of fact, I was surprised when I disembarked this morning and found that there are still hopefully male frigates, patiently displaying their puffed red pouches to any female passing in flight. Most frigates have paired and built their nests and many are already incubating eggs or feeding tiny chicks. The males who don’t attract a mate very soon will have to deflate their pouch and wait for the next breeding season.
Red-footed boobies also nest on Genovesa, but they nest year round with a few individuals courting and others nest building, incubating or rearing their young in all the months of the year. This morning we enjoyed an easy walk along a trail that skirts the low saltbushes and mangroves where the frigates and red-footed boobies nest. I checked the spot in a red mangrove where last year I followed the development of a red-foot chick and was delighted to find that again this year, a pair of boobies have laid claim to this ideal nest site. The female was on a newly built nest and I have decided to check on her weekly to see how she makes out in her breeding attempt this year. It is even possible that she is the same bird I watched raise a chick successfully beginning in October last year. Unless I had marked her, there is no way to tell. We’ll see how she and her as yet still unlaid egg/chick fare during the next six weeks while I am here on Polaris.
The frenzy of frigate courtship is winding down on the island of Genovesa. As a matter of fact, I was surprised when I disembarked this morning and found that there are still hopefully male frigates, patiently displaying their puffed red pouches to any female passing in flight. Most frigates have paired and built their nests and many are already incubating eggs or feeding tiny chicks. The males who don’t attract a mate very soon will have to deflate their pouch and wait for the next breeding season.
Red-footed boobies also nest on Genovesa, but they nest year round with a few individuals courting and others nest building, incubating or rearing their young in all the months of the year. This morning we enjoyed an easy walk along a trail that skirts the low saltbushes and mangroves where the frigates and red-footed boobies nest. I checked the spot in a red mangrove where last year I followed the development of a red-foot chick and was delighted to find that again this year, a pair of boobies have laid claim to this ideal nest site. The female was on a newly built nest and I have decided to check on her weekly to see how she makes out in her breeding attempt this year. It is even possible that she is the same bird I watched raise a chick successfully beginning in October last year. Unless I had marked her, there is no way to tell. We’ll see how she and her as yet still unlaid egg/chick fare during the next six weeks while I am here on Polaris.
