Three Boobies

Hey, Ms. Barrett. It's Alexa G. from period 2.

Earlier you mentioned that there were three different types of boobies (blue-footed, red-footed and the masked booby). I was wondering if there are any differences between them besides their appearance.

Alexa, the three species of boobies have a great deal in common because they are all in the same genus. (I am referring to their classification...domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.) Since they have almost all of the levels of classification in common, they are extremely similar. However, there are some differences. One example is their nesting behavior. Blue-foots nest on the ground, red-foots in small trees and shrubs, and masked boobies nest on cliffs or near the edge of the sea. I just found out on this trip that the masked boobies found in the Galapagos are now called Nazca boobies. Can someone tell me why their name was recently changed, and where the name came from?

Thanks for the question, Alexa!