Masked Booby
Sula dactylatra
- Family
- Boobies and Gannets (Sulidae)
- Order
- Suliformes
Overview
The masked booby (Sula dactylatra), also called the masked gannet or the blue-faced booby, is a large seabird of the booby and gannet family, Sulidae. First described by the French naturalist René-Primevère Lesson in 1831, the masked booby is one of six species of booby in the genus Sula. It has a typical sulid body shape, with a long pointed yellowish bill, long neck, aerodynamic body, long slender wings and pointed tail. The adult is bright white with black wings, a black tail and a dark face mask; at 75–85 cm (30–33 in) long, it is the largest species of booby.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to see it
Destination guides featuring this bird
Range and habitat
Countries
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Brazil
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Cook Islands
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Eritrea
- Fiji
- French Guiana
- French Polynesia
- Guam
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Indonesia
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Liberia
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Mayotte
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Norfolk Island
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Peru
- Philippines
- Puerto Rico
- Samoa
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Seychelles
- Somalia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Suriname
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- United States
- Venezuela
- Yemen
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Masked booby
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
