Sula leucogaster

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Habitat and Ecology

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	PELECANIFORMES	SULIDAE

Scientific Name:

Sula leucogaster

Species Authority:

(Boddaert, 1783)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Brown Booby
French	–	Fou brun

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2009

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Bird, J., Butchart, S.

Justification:
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History:

2008	–	Least Concern
2004	–	Least Concern

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	The Brown Booby can be found throughout the pantropical oceans with few exceptions. Breeding sites include the Carribean, the Atlantic coasts of Brazil and Africa, oceanic islands off Madagascar, the Red Sea, northern Australia, many oceanic islands in the western and central Pacific, as well as off the coast of Mexico and Peru¹.
Countries:	Native: American Samoa; Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Aruba; Australia; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Brazil; British Indian Ocean Territory; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Cape Verde; Cayman Islands; China; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Colombia; Comoros; Cook Islands; Costa Rica; Cuba; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Fiji; French Guiana; French Polynesia; Gabon; Grenada; Guadeloupe; Guam; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; India; Indonesia; Israel; Jamaica; Japan; Jordan; Kenya; Kiribati; Liberia; Madagascar; Malaysia; Maldives; Marshall Islands; Martinique; Mauritania; Mayotte; Mexico; Montserrat; Myanmar; Nauru; Netherlands Antilles; New Caledonia; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Northern Mariana Islands; Oman; Palau; Panama; Philippines; Puerto Rico; Saint Helena; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Samoa; Sao Tomé and Principe; Saudi Arabia; Seychelles; Singapore; Solomon Islands; Somalia; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Taiwan, Province of China; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos Islands; United States; United States Minor Outlying Islands; Vanuatu; Venezuela; Viet Nam; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.; Wallis and Futuna; Yemen Vagrant: Benin; Bermuda; Gambia; Ghana; Hong Kong; Morocco; Mozambique; New Zealand; Portugal; Senegal; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Spain; United Arab Emirates; Uruguay Present - origin uncertain: Cambodia; Cameroon; Chile; Côte d'Ivoire; French Southern Territories (the); Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Mauritius; Norfolk Island; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Pitcairn; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Tokelau; Tuvalu; Western Sahara
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species is strictly marine, generally feeding on inshore waters. Its diet is comprised mainly of flying-fish and squid, but also some halfbeak (Hemiramphu), mullet (Mugil) and anchovy (Engraulis). Prey is usually caught by plunge-diving and it can also snatch prey off the surface of water. Kleptoparasitism has been observed, mostly by females. Breeding is seasonal in some reas by elsewhere it breeds opportunistically or more or less continuously. Nests are usually built on the ground in the midst of vegetation on rocky islands or coral atolls. Individuals form colonies that are usually smaller than other Sula species¹.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

This species is strictly marine, generally feeding on inshore waters. Its diet is comprised mainly of flying-fish and squid, but also some halfbeak (Hemiramphu), mullet (Mugil) and anchovy (Engraulis). Prey is usually caught by plunge-diving and it can also snatch prey off the surface of water. Kleptoparasitism has been observed, mostly by females. Breeding is seasonal in some reas by elsewhere it breeds opportunistically or more or less continuously. Nests are usually built on the ground in the midst of vegetation on rocky islands or coral atolls. Individuals form colonies that are usually smaller than other Sula species¹.

Systems:

Terrestrial; Marine

Citation:	BirdLife International 2009. Sula leucogaster. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 February 2012.
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