The red-footed booby (Sula sula) adults always have red feet, but the colour of the plumage varies. The smallest member of the booby and gannet family, the English name booby was possibly based on the Spanish slang term bobo, meaning stupid, as these tame birds had a habit of landing on board sailing ships, where they were easily captured and eaten. The word Sula is Norwegian for a gannet. It lives year-round in tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
