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Masked Booby
Boobies are large, fish-eating divers of the open sea. The masked booby is the species most commonly found in the Gulf of Mexico. The specimen pictured here is a juvenile resting on PINS. These birds rarely come to shore other than to breed and raise their young. The adult has an all white head, black face mask, and broad trailing edges to its wings. The masked booby the largest and heaviest of the booby family, prefers deep water, and executes near vertical dives when fishing.
Colonial breeders on marine islands, the adult masked booby has a body length of about 34-inches and wingspan of 60-inches. Anglers will often mistake masked boobies for pelicans due to their diving, but their profile is more slender and their wing beat is smoother. Also white pelicans seem bay oriented while the brown pelicans are in the surf. So, large white birds with black wing feathers in the open gulf or near shore are more apt to be masked boobies than white pelicans. Their repeated diving alerts Gulf anglers to the presence of baitfish.
Colonial breeders on marine islands, the adult masked booby has a body length of about 34-inches and wingspan of 60-inches. Anglers will often mistake masked boobies for pelicans due to their diving, but their profile is more slender and their wing beat is smoother. Also white pelicans seem bay oriented while the brown pelicans are in the surf. So, large white birds with black wing feathers in the open gulf or near shore are more apt to be masked boobies than white pelicans. Their repeated diving alerts Gulf anglers to the presence of baitfish.