Typhoon-affected rare seabird set free

According to the Society for Wildlife and Nature (SWAN) of Taiwan, the bird was sighted Oct. 8 resting on the deck of a freighter that was anchored in Taichung Harbor on the west coast of central Taiwan.

The harbor authorities notified SWAN about the unprecedented sighting of the rare bird that same day, and specialists from the organization went to the harbor to capture it.

After examining and feeding the brown booby, SWAN specialists found that the bird was exhausted but had suffered no physical injuries. They decided to let it rest for two days before setting it free.

The booby is a rare seabird and there are only nine species worldwide, only one of which appears near Taiwan’s east coast.

An adult brown booby reaches about 76 cm in length, with a wingspan of 145 cm. Its head and upper body are dark brown, with the remainder white.

While these birds are typically silent, bird watchers have reported them making occasional sounds similar to grunting or quacking.

The species breeds on islands and coasts in pantropical areas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They also frequent the islands in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

Brown booby pairs may remain together over several seasons. They perform elaborate greeting rituals.

They are spectacular divers, plunging into the ocean at high speed. They mainly eat small fish or squid that they catch near the surface and they can also catch leaping fish while skimming the surface.

Although brown boobies are powerful and agile fliers, they are particularly clumsy in takeoffs and landings — often an adult bird needs a run-up of 10 meters before it can build up enough speed to take off.

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