Juvenile Red-footed Booby on Laysan Island

Red-footed boobies are the smallest of all boobies. Their legs and feet are red and the bill is pale blue. Juveniles are wholly brown or blackish gray with black bill and facial skin and gray legs. Immature have patchy underwings without definite pattern, white back, mottled gray-brown head, and red or brownish legs. They are polymorphic; few seabirds display such a variety of color phases. Well adapted for diving and feature long bills, lean and aerodynamic bodies, closeable nostrils, and long wings which they wrap around their bodies before entering the water.