Did you notice an unusual number of your colleagues sporting blue socks or blue shoes last Friday?  Well, of course, June 18 was “Blue-footed Booby Day”!

What’s that? You have no clue what a blue-footed booby is? Obviously, you’ve never had the good fortune to visit the Galapagos Islands, where these charismatic birds reside. But Landry & Kling CEO Joyce Landry has. (Check out the videos from Joyce’s recent Lindblad expedition cruise– watch her wild sea lion encounters on the island and in the sea.)

The Galapagos Conservation Trust established Blue-footed Booby Day as part of the BBC Wildlife Fund 2010 Wild Appeal to raise much-needed funds for threatened wildlife and places. You might have missed Blue-footed Booby Day, but it’s not too late to make a donation to help protect these loveable birds and their surrounding habitat.

Landry & Kling and Seasite staff demonstrated their support of the birds by dressing in blue and donating to the fund.

But back to the birds at hand (or should I say, feet?) The Blue-footed Booby is one of the strangest birds in Galapagos. They’re most famous for their bright blue feet, with the color ranging from light to deep blue. How they got their bright blue feet is a mystery, but the blueness plays an important part in courting.

The Mating Dance: During the mating season, the booby performs an elaborate mating dance, which starts when the male gives the female a small stone or stick.  He then tips his beak, tail, and wing tips to the sky and whistles.  They slowly march around each other and display their bright blue feet for hours.

Anyone lucky enough to spend time with these stunning birds can’t help but fall for them as they are always happy to perform their highly entertaining courtship dance – which involves the males flaunting their blue feet to the females.

While they’re most elegant in flight, Blue-footed Boobies are clumsy on the ground and this, coupled with their iconic courtship dance, earned them their name – ‘booby’ coming from the Spanish term ‘bobo’ meaning clown.  To see the dance click here.

Now that you’ve gotten to know these amusing birds, why not plan an expedition to the Galapagos with your group to meet the blue-footed boobies (and lots of other friendly creatures) up close and personal. Ask Joyce Landry – she’s tell why a voyage to the Galapagos is a life-altering experience.

Filed under: Destination Focus, Landry and Kling News, Miscellaneous, Seasite News