Brown Booby
Sula leucogaster
The brown booby is a large seabird in the booby and gannet family Sulidae, of which it is one of the most common and widespread species. It has a pantropical range, which overlaps with that of other booby species.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC) via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_booby
Taxonomy & Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Suliformes
Family
Sulidae
Genus
Sula
Brown Booby belongs to the family Sulidae, order Suliformes, within the Aves class.
Species Profile
The brown booby is a large seabird in the booby and gannet family Sulidae, of which it is one of the most common and widespread species. It has a pantropical range, which overlaps with that of other booby species. The gregarious brown booby commutes and forages at low height over inshore waters. Flocks plunge-dive to take small fish, especially when these are driven near the surface by their predators. They nest only on the ground, and roost on solid objects rather than the water surface.
Brown Boobies face significant threats from habitat loss due to coastal development and human disturbance at nesting colonies. Climate change impacts, including sea level rise and altered ocean conditions affecting prey availability, pose additional challenges to breeding success and population stability.
Key Facts
Habitat & Distribution
This species breeds on islands and coasts in the pantropical areas of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. They frequent the breeding grounds of the islands in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. With the rise in pollution in the world, brown boobies have been using marine debris to make their nests, with 90.1% of these nest were consisted of plastic, while nests near shipwreck have a...
Threats
IUCN Red List: Endangered
Brown Boobies face significant threats from habitat loss due to coastal development and human disturbance at nesting colonies. Climate change impacts, including sea level rise and altered ocean conditions affecting prey availability, pose additional challenges to breeding success and population stability.
Coastal development and habitat destruction
Human disturbance at nesting colonies
Climate change and sea level rise
Overfishing reducing prey availability
Plastic pollution and marine debris
Community Sightings
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Sources & Attribution
How to Cite
IUCN: IUCN (2025). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2025-1. Available at: https://www.iucnredlist.org. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-1.RLTS
GBIF: GBIF.org (2025). GBIF Home Page. Available at: https://www.gbif.org
This page: SpeciesRadar (2025). Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster). SpeciesRadar: Intelligence for Earth's Biodiversity. Available at: https://speciesradar.org/species/brown-booby