Red-footed Booby
Bukit Timah NR
13 Aug 2024


General details
Species Red-footed Booby Sula sula
Record ID 10848
Date 13 Aug 2024
Location Bukit Timah NR
Count 1 individual
Age Adult white morph
Date added 13 Aug 2024

Record accepted.

Committee's view
Vote results For: 5, Abstain (sole observer): 1
Wild: 5
Verdict Accepted / Wild (Verifiable)

Descriptions
Identification
I had low expectations while birding at Bukit Timah summit on what can best be described as a quiet afternoon. The usual swiftlets were buzzing around and a Brahminy kite drifted over. Then I picked up a white bird coming in fast from the south, wings beating fast and flying directly in a non-raptor way. Not big enough for an eagle but too big for anything else 'normal'. As soon as I got binoculars onto the bird it was obviously a booby; apparently an adult Red-footed. WTF! I watched the bird for about ten seconds until it was out of sight to the north. I didn't reach for the camera, there was no point. I shared the news as quickly as I was able but even this felt futile. It was gone. And all the while I was getting flashbacks to the record from Henderson Waves. As unlikely as it may seem, lightning does sometimes strike twice. Mid-sized, predominantly white, bird. Not as big as a White-bellied sea eagle, but bigger than a Pied imperial pigeon. A very pointy bird - long thin wings, pointed tail and head/bill. Wing tips/primaries and secondaries were black but otherwise a white bird, including the tail which would be black if it were a Masked booby or a southern hemisphere gannet species. I can't say that I saw the feet, but the combination of white body and tail rules out Masked booby which is the most likely alternative.
Habitat/behaviour
Flying fast and direct over the summit clearing, not very high but not low either.
Viewing conditions
Flat afternoon light with cloud, but OK.
Observer's experience
Many thousands seen - most recently in July 2024.
Observer's experience w/similar species
All the boobies and gannets. Enough to know this was not a Masked booby and for sure not a gannet.

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Bird Society of Singapore. (2024). Record 10848: Red-footed Booby Sula sula. Retrieved November 12, 2024, from https://records.singaporebirds.com/record/10848/.

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