Rare ‘brown booby’ bird normally only found in exotic locations such as Mexico, Columbia and Venezuela is spotted in the UK for the first time
- Brown booby birds normally are found in exotic South American locations
- The bird has now been seen off the coast of Britain near St Ives, Cornwall
- Pictures of the birds have sparked excitement among twitchers in the UK
Huge crowds of excited twitchers have gathered to catch a glimpse of a rare ‘brown booby’ birds spotted in the UK for the first time.
Bird lovers flocked to the scene in Cornwall to see the rare sighting normally spotted in Mexico, Columbia or Venezuela.
It marks the first ever time the rare bird has been seen in the British Isles.
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The rare bird, a white seabird with bright yellow feet, has been spotted on The Island, near St Ives, Cornwall, by Keith Jennings. Mr Jennings took the pictures (pictured) at 7.34am on Tuesday, August 27, before he lost sight of the bird when it flew south
But now the rare bird, a white seabird with bright yellow feet, has been spotted on The Island, near St Ives, Cornwall, by Keith Jennings.
Mr Jennings took the pictures at 7.34am on Tuesday, August 27, before he lost sight of the bird when it flew south.
It was reported again later by someone else who saw it flying west past fishing boats around 2.30pm but there were no further signs by dusk.
The brown booby was reported again later by someone else who saw it flying west past fishing boats around 2.30pm but there were no further signs by dusk
Huge crowds of excited twitchers have gathered to catch a glimpse of a rare ‘brown booby’ birds spotted in the UK for the first time
Website eBird reports that the brown booby is a ‘large seabird of inshore waters, often seen from beaches off the Pacific coast, sometimes just beyond the breakers.
‘Usually plunge-dives from a shallow angle, much closer to the water than the blue-footed booby.
‘Breeds in colonies on offshore islands, nesting on the ground.
‘Head, neck and upper parts are solidly brown, except for adult males from Pacific coast populations which have a white-ish head and often an entirely white-ish neck.
‘Adult has well-demarcated white belly and immature has a variably mottled brown belly that rarely looks solidly brown below.’