Seabirds

Cocos Booby

Cocos Boobies are eastern Pacific seabirds formerly included with Brown Booby.

Laughing Gull

Laughing Gulls are coastal gulls with dark gray backs and blackish wingtips.

Magnificent Frigatebird

Frigatebirds use very long wings and a deeply forked tail to soar above tropical coasts.

Royal Tern

The Royal Tern is a large pale coastal tern with a substantial orange bill and ragged dark crest.

Nature Field Guide

Cocos Booby

Spanish name: Piquero de Cocos
Scientific name: Sula brewsteri

What Do Pico & Tati Think?

Pico meets a familiar-looking seabird with a newer name. Tati keeps the scientific name beside the illustration.

Identification

Key Features of the Cocos Booby

Brown adult upperparts and white belly
Strong pointed pale bill
Short legs and broad webbed feet
Identification may require close expert comparison

Habitat & range

Scan Pacific coastal waters and offshore rocks from a safe viewpoint or responsible boat trip. Do not approach seabird colonies or land on nesting islands.

Conservation & care

Give feeding and resting birds space. If a bird stops feeding, repeatedly looks at you or moves away, increase your distance. Keep dogs away from flocks, avoid playback and feeding, and leave nests and natural shoreline debris undisturbed.

Nature Field Guide

Laughing Gull

Spanish name: Gaviota reidora
Scientific name: Leucophaeus atricilla

Birds · Coastal Birds · Seabirds Beach · Ocean · Sand & Mud Flats

What Do Pico & Tati Think?

Pico hears a call that sounds like laughter. Tati checks the season before expecting a black hood.

Identification

Key Features of the Laughing Gull

Dark gray back and pale body
Blackish wingtips
Breeding adults have a dark hood
Winter head is paler with gray smudges

Habitat & range

Scan coastal waters and undisturbed shoreline resting places from a safe public viewpoint. Keep boats and people away from nesting or resting colonies.

Conservation & care

Nature Field Guide

Magnificent Frigatebird

Spanish name: Rabihorcado magnífico
Scientific name: Fregata magnificens

Birds · Coastal Birds · Seabirds Beach · Estuary & Mangroves · Ocean

What Do Pico & Tati Think?

Pico draws a bird that barely seems to flap. Tati adds a deeply forked tail to finish its sky silhouette.

Identification

Key Features of the Magnificent Frigatebird

Very long angular wings
Deeply forked tail
Adult male dark with red throat skin
Adult female has a white chest

Habitat & range

Scan coastal waters and undisturbed shoreline resting places from a safe public viewpoint. Keep boats and people away from nesting or resting colonies.

Conservation & care

Nature Field Guide

Royal Tern

Spanish name: Pagaza real
Scientific name: Thalasseus maximus

Birds · Coastal Birds · Seabirds Beach · Ocean · Sand & Mud Flats

What Do Pico & Tati Think?

Pico notices an orange bill above the tideline. Tati sketches the crest before the tern returns to fishing.

Identification

Key Features of the Royal Tern

Large orange pointed bill
Pale gray back and white body
Black legs
Dark rear crest, with a white forehead outside breeding

Habitat & range

Scan coastal waters and undisturbed shoreline resting places from a safe public viewpoint. Keep boats and people away from nesting or resting colonies.

Conservation & care