This beautiful island is often known as Hitchcock's island, as it is home to huge colonies of sea birds. Genovesa is one of the outer, northernmost islands, and as a consequence the majority of the species nesting here are offshore feeders, such as great frigate birds, red-footed boobies and swallow-tailed gulls. We spent the whole day visiting two different locations on the island, the first a white coralline beach inside Darwin Bay, the second an area named Prince Phillip's steps, which involves a climb up to the top of a 90ft cliff over some natural steps. Both areas are crowded with these colonies: Nazca boobies and swallow-tailed gulls on the ground, red-footed boobies up in the trees. At this time of year, all these species are at the peak of their mating season, therefore we saw them doing their different rituals in order to attract their mates.
This picture shows a couple of red footed boobies finally making their nest, which is a most difficult mission because the only tool available to them is their bill.
Because of their far ranging habits, red-footed boobies are slow breeders, taking well over twelve months to complete a breeding cycle.
