Brown Booby

Table

Brown Booby – Accepted
1. 20 Sep 1946	HY	Imperial Dam IMP	1984-194	10	ph., USNM 393391
2. 20 Nov 1957	HY	vic. Earp SBE	1988-105	14	ph., SDNHM 30080
3. 05 Sep 1958–? Dec 1960	HY	Ferguson Lake IMP/ Martinez Lake Arizona	1992-096	14	ph., Audubon 63:131, Pyle & Small (1961)
4. 03–05 Jul 1965	ASY	Prince Islet, San Miguel I. SBA	1984-089	9	ph., McCaskie (1970e), Roberson (1980)
5. 28 Jul–13 Aug 1966	HY	n end Salton Sea RIV	1986-395	14	ph., SBCM 31470
6. ? Oct 1967	HY	s end Salton Sea IMP	1982-036	8	ph., HSU 1388
7-14. 06 Sep 1969–25 Apr 1970	≤8	Salton Sea IMP/RIV	1984-090	10	Fig. 202, ph., AFN 24:98, McCaskie (1970e), Small (1974, 1994 plate 51)
and 25 Apr 1970		Whitewater R., Salton Sea RIV	1984-090	10
15. 15–24 Aug 1970	HY	Rock Hill, Salton Sea IMP	1986-134	11	SBCM M4621
16. 28 Aug–07 Sep 1971	HY	n end Salton Sea RIV	1986-136	11
17. 29 Aug–18 Sep 1971	HY	Rock Hill, Salton Sea IMP	1986-137	14
18. 15 Jul 1972	HY	Calexico IMP	1986-234	14
19-20. 05–26 Aug 1972	≤2 HY	Whitewater R., Salton Sea RIV	1973-034	2	ph.
21. 24 Aug–02 Sep 1974	ASY	Whitewater R., Salton Sea RIV	1980-130	7
22. 19 Aug–early Dec 1977	HY	Lake Havasu SBE	1978-050	5	ph., Roberson (1980)
23. 24–28 Sep 1983	SY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1985-126	10
24. 29 Oct 1983–25 Mar 1984	HY	vic. Santa Barbara I. SBA	1983-115/ 1984-115	9	ph.
25. 01 Jul 1984	SY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1985-122	11
26. 15–19 June 1988	SY	Pt. Lobos MTY	1988-132	13
27. 15 Oct 1988	ASY	vic. Santa Barbara I. SBA	1989-077	13	ph.
28. 02 Apr 1990	TY	Imperial Beach SD	1992-048	15	ph., SDNMH 46566
29-36. 12 Jul–29 Sep 1990	≤8	Salton Sea IMP/RIV	1990-099	16	ph., AB 44:1104, 1185
37. 08 Aug 1991	ASY	vic. Santa Barbara I. SBA	1992-017	17
and 02 Jun 1992		Santa Barbara I. SBA	1992-233	17
38. 26 Sep 1991	ASY	Santa Cruz SCZ	1991-177	19
39. 14 Dec 1991	HY	~2 nmi. off San Diego Bay SD	1992-124	17
40. 25 May–15 Sep 1992	SY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1992-162	18	ph.
and 08 Oct–24 Nov 1992
and 16 Aug–18 Oct 1993			1993-203	19	ph.
41. 29 Aug 1992	ASY	Shoreline Park, Mtn. View SCL	1992-243	18
42. 18 Oct 1992	HY	off Pt. Vicente LA	1993-014	19	ph.
43. 09 Aug–04 Sep 1994	HY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1994-182	20	ph.
44. 14 Aug 1994	HY	San Pedro LA	1994-129	20	ph.
45. 22 Apr 1995	SY	off Big Sycamore Canyon VEN	1995-073	22
46. 27 Sep–11 Oct 1995	HY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1995-136	21
47. 10–26 Jul 1996	ASY	Diablo Canyon SLO	1996-116	23	ph.
48. 28 Aug 1996	HY	vic. Niland IMP	1996-111	23	ph.
49. 31 Aug 1996	HY	~12 nmi. ssw Santa Barbara SBA	1996-117A	24	ph., Erickson & Hamilton (2001)
50. 10 Oct 1996	ASY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1997-037	22
51. 27–29 Sep 1997	HY	Pt. Loma SD	2000-046	25
52. 30 Sep 1997	HY	~15 nmi. se Santa Rosa I. SBA	1998-069	24	ph.
53. 05 Oct 1997	HY	n Lovers Pt., Monterey Bay MTY	1998-053	23	ph., video, FN 52:120
54. 19 Oct 1997	HY	vic. Santa Cruz/Santa Rosa Is. SBA	1998-006	23	Fig. 201, ph., FN 52:144
55. 07 Dec 1997–07 Feb 1998	HY	Newport Beach ORA	1997-211	24
56. 19 Jan 1998	HY	San Simeon SLO	1998-054	24
57. 07 Jun 1998	ASY	Pt. Reyes MRN	1998-088	24	ph., video
58. 05 Jul 1998	ASY	Morro Bay SLO	1998-122	24
59. 12–24 Oct 1998	SY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1999-007	24	ph.
60. 13 Mar–23 May 1999	TY	Goleta SBA	1999-093	25
61. 08 May 1999	ASY	Santa Cruz I. SBA	1999-117	25
62. 22–27 Jul 1999	SY	Castle Rocks MTY	1999-183	25
63. 07–12 Sep 1999	ASY	Ventura Harbor VEN	1999-148	25	ph.
64. 11 Sep 1999	ASY	~10 nmi. sw Pt. Loma SD	1999-149	25	ph.
65. 23 Sep 1999	ASY	~35 nmi. wsw Pt. Pinos MTY	1999-181	25	ph.
66. 02–19 Oct 1999	ASY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	2000-017	25	ph.
67. 20 Oct 1999	ASY	Monterey Bay SCZ	1999-180	25	ph.
68. 01–07 Nov 1999	ASY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	2000-018	25
and 22-28 Oct 2000		Southeast Farallon I. SF	2001-055	26
69. 29 Aug 2000	ASY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	2001-025	26
70. 12 Sep 2000	ASY	Capitola SCZ	2002-006	28	Cole & McCaskie (2004) with incorrect year
71. 08 Apr 2001	ASY	Pt. Loma SD	2001-098	28
72. 20 Oct 2001	ASY	~8 nmi. ssw Davenport SCZ	2001-211	27	ph.
73. 26 Oct 2002	AHY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	2003-019	28	dark-headed
and 02 Jan–23 Mar 2003	S-TY	Princeton Harbor SM	2003-012	29	ph.
74. 23 Nov 2002	AHY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	2003-020	28
75. 04 Jun 2003	ATY	Pt. Pedernales SBA	2003-097	29
76. 11 Aug 2003	ATY	Southeast Farallon I. SF	2003-100	29
77. 17 Aug 2003	ATY	11 mi. e Calexico IMP	2003-095	29	ph., LACM 112416
78. 21 Sep 2003	AHY	~5.5 nmi. off Mistake Pt. MEN	2003-140	29
79. 25 Oct 2003	HY	Anacapa I. VEN	2003-180	29	NAB 58:142
80. 01–03 Nov 2003	HY	China Pt., San Clemente I. LA	2004-011	29	ph., Sullivan & Kershner (2005)
Brown Booby – Not accepted, identification not established
01 Aug 1973		Pt. Reyes MRN	1973-068	2
20 Jul 1975		Scott Creek Beach SCZ	1976-059	3
22 Jun 1987		Monterey Bay SCZ	1987-221	13
03 Dec 1987		Pt. Pinos MTY	1987-360	14	ph.
27 Apr 1989		s end Salton Sea IMP	1989-066	13
13 May 1989		San Clemente I. LA	1989-195	15
15 Sep 1990		off Pt. Vicente LA	1993-001	17
05 Jan 1995		Miramar SD	1995-048	21
11 Jan 2000		Newport Beach ORA	2000-085	26
06 Mar 2000	2	New R., Salton Sea IMP	2000-059	26
Brown Booby – Not accepted, natural occurrence questionable (identification established)
17 Nov 1997	HY	Shelter I. SD	1998-008	24	ph., video, Unitt (2004)
Brown Booby – Not submitted
10 Jul 1956		San Miguel I. SBA		14	Roberson (1993)
20 Sep 1958		Imperial Dam IMP		14	AFN 13:53
05 Dec 1959		Pt. Loma SD			Pyle & Small (1961)
25–26 Jul 1961		San Miguel I. SBA		14	Lehman (1994)
summers 1962–1967		San Miguel I. SBA			Garrett & Dunn (1981)
1966		Salton Sea IMP		14	LACM 52054 (skel.), Patten et al. (2003)
14 May–20 Jul 1968		San Miguel I. SBA		14	Lehman (1994)
04 Sep 1972		Salton City IMP		14	AB 27:120
14 Jul 1973		Pt. Reyes MRN		14	Cogswell (1977)
26 Aug 1973		Imperial Dam IMP			AB 28:87
18 Dec 1994–06 May 1995		Ship Rock, Santa Catalina I. LA			FN 49:195, 308, 826, “good details”
03–10 Oct 1997		Southeast Farallon I. SF			Richardson et al. (2003)
20–22 Dec 1997		Morro Bay SLO			FN 52:256
04–07 Feb 1998		La Jolla/Pt. Loma SD			Unitt (2004)
25 Jan 2000		Marina del Rey LA			NAB 54:220
12 Aug 2000		off Monterey MTY			NAB 55:99

Figures

Figure 77. Distribution of 80 Brown Boobies accepted through 2003. In addition to the major concentration shown at the Salton Sea, a remarkable 13 individuals have been found at Southeast Farallon Island.

Image3131.TIF

Figure 78. Annual occurrence of the Brown Booby in California. Inland occurrences have essentially held steady since the first record in 1945, albeit with short-lived incursions in 1969 and 1990. The frequency of coastal records has, by contrast, increased sharply during the 1990s and 2000s, including a total of nine in 1999.

Figure 201. Coastal records of the Brown Booby have increased dramatically in California since 1990. Contributing to the trend was this first-fall bird photographed on 19 October 1997 near Santa Rosa Island, Santa Barbara County (1998-006; Don DesJardin).

Brown Booby

BROWN BOOBY Sula leucogaster (Boddaert, 1783)

Accepted: 80 (87%)	Treated in Appendix H: yes
Not accepted: 12	CBRC review: all records¹
Not submitted/reviewed: 16	Larger image, see figures

This booby breeds on tropical and subtropical islands worldwide. Sula l. brewsteri breeds in western Mexico, including colonies in the Gulf of California and on the Islas Revillagigedo. The species is a casual vagrant in the West, and has reached Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona. Several California records of adult males—the only birds field-identifiable below the species level—involve brewsteri (the only subspecies expected to occur in the state).

A first-fall Brown Booby clubbed over the head with an oar (!) on 20 September 1946 at Imperial Dam, Imperial County, provided the first state record (McMurry 1948). The species has since occurred mainly as a post-breeding-season wanderer, with the period between 15 June and 25 October accounting for seven out of every ten accepted records (57 of 80 were first detected during this date span). For decades, the Brown and Blue-footed Boobies were the only sulids recorded in the state, and both were found primarily at the Salton Sea (McCaskie 1970e), where Blue-footeds greatly outnumbered Browns. This pattern has been reversed since 1980 (Patten and Campbell 1992), and since 1990 the Brown has become the state’s most regular booby by far (see also Appendix H). Note, however, that the Salton Sea still attracts more Blue-footeds.

The Brown Booby’s status has changed most markedly along the Pacific coast of California (see Figures 77 and 78), where it has been recorded annually since 1990. Washington and Oregon’s several records (some still pending bird records committee review) all are since 1997. Through January 1998, adults accounted for only about one out of every four records of birds of known age (9 of 40), but since that time older birds have generated five out of every six such records (20 of 24). Just south of the border, Brown Boobies have exhibited mating behaviors on the Islas Todos Santos and the Islas Los Coronados since at least 1999 (e.g., NAB 56:489), and in summer 2005 a single juvenile fledged from a grass nest on Middle Rock of the latter chain (D. L. Whitworth and H. R. Carter unpubl. data). Roughly 30 birds were recorded there in February 2007 (NAB unpubl. data). If current trends hold, it seems likely that California’s breeding avifauna will eventually come to include the Brown Booby.

¹Off the review list 1974–1975