The Status and Occurrence of Cocos Booby (Sula brewsteri) in British Columbia. By Rick Toochin, Don Cecile and Mike Ashbee. Revised: November 25, 2024.

 

The Cocos Booby (Sula brewsteri) is a large species of seabird that was recently split from the Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) (Retter 2024). The Brown Booby has a significant worldwide distribution between the latitudes 30°N, 30°S, to about 34°S in the central Pacific (Schreiber and Norton 2002). This species has large breeding colonies found throughout the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, the Indian Oceans, the Red Sea, and the seas north of Australia (Schreiber and Norton 2002). In North America, the Brown Booby regularly occurs with one found on the Atlantic Coast with Cocos Booby occurring along the Pacific Coast from Baja Mexico to Columbia and Ecuador (Schreiber and Norton 2002, Retter 2024). Along the east coast of North America, the subspecies of Brown Booby (S. l. nesiotes) occurs as a casually occurring nonbreeding species to Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Bermuda, rarely north to New York and Nova Scotia (Schreiber and Norton 2002). This subspecies is found in the Caribbean Ocean south along the coasts of Central and South America (Schreiber and Norton 2002).

 

Along the west coast of North America, the Cocos Booby occurs regularly as a rare, but somewhat regular species, off the coast of southern California (Hamilton et al. 2007). These are nonbreeding birds from breeding areas in Mexico that regularly move north, especially in the fall (Hamilton et al. 2007). There are over 80 accepted records by the California Bird Records Committee (Hamilton et al. 2007, Tietz and McCaskie 2014). On the Pacific Coast just south of California, the Cocos Booby breeds in the Gulf of Mexico, on islands from Consag Rock and George Island, south to San Ignacio Farallon, Ildefonso Island; offshore of Mexico in the Pacific Ocean on San Benedicto Island and Revillagigedo Island group, Malpelo Island, Clipperton Island, Tres Marias Island, and Isabela Island (Schreiber and Norton 2002). North of California, the Cocos Booby is an accidental species, but has been increasing in the past 7 years particularly during El Nino years. In Oregon, there are 4 accepted records by the Oregon Bird Records Committee (OFO 2012). In Washington State, the Cocos Booby is also an accidental species with only 6 accepted records by the Washington Bird Records Committee (Wahl et al. 2005, WRBC 2014). In British Columbia, the Cocos Booby is a recent addition to the Provincial checklist with over 20 records occurring since 2009 (Toochin et al. 2014, see Table 1). The Cocos Booby has even been found in Alaska where it is an accidental species with only a couple of recent State records (Gibson et al. 2015).

The identification of the Brown Booby is covered in all standard North American field guides.  For identification of Cocos Booby, it is advised to look at field guides that show either the brewsteri subspecies or Pacific Birds (Sibley 2000, Dunn and Alderfer 2011). This species is fairly large measuring 76 cm (30 inches) in length and a wingspan measuring 145 cm (57 inches) (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). There are four other Booby species that have or could potentially occur in British Columbia. These include Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) with a recent photographed record for British Columbia, Nazca Booby (Sula granti) with many recent photo records for British Columbia, Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii) with one sight record and photo record for British Columbia, and Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) which has been recently recorded in British Columbia (Toochin et al. 2014, see Table 1). It is recommended that observers read Dunn and Alderfer (2011) or Sibley (2003) for a more in depth look at separating these species. The identification of these other Booby species is out of the scope of this article and only the identification of the Cocos Booby will be covered here.

 

The adult male Cocos Booby has a large triangular bill that is yellow-green (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). At the base of the bill is a blue facial skin that extends around the eye and down around the chin. The eyes are yellowish (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). An important identification field mark of the Cocos Booby is the head and neck is whitish on males (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). The lower neck, back upper wings, rump and tail are dark brown (Sibley 2003). The lower chest is also dark brown and with the breast, belly and undertail coverts gleaming white (Sibley 2003). The legs and feet are bright yellow (Sibley 2003). In flight the wingbeats are deep with long glides (Sibley 2003). The wings are broad, long and pointed at the primary tips (Sibley 2003). The underside of the wings has white axillaries that extend partially up the wing (Sibley 2003). The primaries are dark brown as is the leading and trailing edge of the underside of the wings (Sibley 2003).

 

The adult female is basically the same looking as the male, but has a brighter yellow bill and yellow facial skin (Dunn and Alderfer 2011).

 

Sub-adult birds show white on the belly and a sharp line of contrast between the dark neck and white breast (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). Otherwise these birds look similar in facial pattern to the adult females (Dunn and Alderfer 2011).

 

Juvenile birds are completely dark brown all over and are a dirty-brownish white on the belly and the underwing is pale, not gleaming white (Sibley 2003). The bill and facial skin are greyish (Lewington et al. 1992). The feet are drab yellow (Dunn and Alderfer 2011). 

 

The Brown Booby likes warm waters to feed in and can be found both close and far offshore. This species will sit in trees, on navigational towers, channel markers and weather buoys. This species feeds on small fish by performing a shallow, low plunge-dive (Sibley 2003).

In British Columbia, the Cocos Booby is an accidental species with 24 Provincial records (Toochin et al. 2014, see Table 1). All records come from ocean areas, often very close to the coastline. The first published record for British Columbia was an adult bird found and photographed by Gary Krause whereby the bird landed on a fishing boat off the north end of Haida Qwaii in Dixon Entrance on October 20, 2008 (Morgan et al. 2009). Upon further review of the co-ordinates the skipper provided in the report, it appears this bird was actually in Alaskan waters when it first came on board the vessel (P. Hamel Pers. Comm.). Careful analysis of ocean charts clearly shows these co-ordinates as being just across the A-B Dixon Line and that Google Maps is slightly off the mark (P. Hamel Pers. Comm.). It is possible that the co-ordinates were improperly entered into the written account and therefore this record has been left in (Toochin et al. 2014, see Table 1). This individual Cocos Booby was photographed and properly documented (Morgan et al. 2009). The second record was found by two independent parties birding in the same general region. The author found a bird sitting on the mast of a sailing boat as the ship cruised by the Sheringham Lighthouse heading towards Victoria on the morning of August 29, 2009 (R. Toochin Pers. Obs.). Later on the same day Mike and Sharon Toochin found the bird likely near the same sailboat off nearby Tower Point (Toochin et al. 2014, see Table 1). The third Provincial record was of a bird photographed by Steve Fitzpatrick from the northwestern part of Hecate Strait off Haida Gwaii on August 23-24, 2013 (Toochin et al. 2014, see Table 1). The fourth record for British Columbia was found and photographed by Mike and Sharon Toochin from a cruise ship 20 NM west off south Nootka Island on September 4, 2013 (Toochin et al. 2014, see Table 1). The fifth Provincial record was a bird found and photographed by Robbie Fisher on November 12, 2013 as it landed on board a fishing vessel off Ucluelet and stayed until it left the boat near Port Renfrew the next day (Toochin et al. 2014, see Table 1). The sixth Provincial record, and a new species for the Vancouver area, was found and photographed by Tom Forge on a fishing vessel on September 14, 2014, at the mouth of south Arm of Fraser River, north of Sandheads, off Richmond (Toochin et al. 2014, see Table 1). The seventh Provincial record was found by Christopher Stevens on a pelagic trip off Tofino on September 20, 2014, and was photographed by Michael Ashbee (M. Ashbee Pers. Comm.). The recent sudden explosion of sightings is likely in part due to the warmer water that has recently been coming north each year on a much more frequent basis (M. Meredith Pers. Comm.). The rise in El Nino, or warm water events is likely helping push these and other tropical ocean species north in search of food prey which are known to also move north during these large scale ocean events (Hamilton et al. 2007). As a result of El Nino, in the fall of 2015 there were 4 more photographed records of the Cocos Booby in waters of British Columbia (See Table 1). The rise in records is also in part to the better communication network that is available to people with access to the internet. In the past, fisherman working offshore would likely have not bothered reporting these types of sightings, but today with the internet it is so much easier to find and distribute the information. Furthermore, there are also more observers looking along the outer coast and it seems everyone has a digital camera now to document rarities.  Since 2016, the Cocos Booby has become an almost expected species in the late summer through the fall along the west coast with 10 records (see Table 1). This includes 3 winter records with 2 from December and 1 from January and an early spring record from mid-March (see Table 1). The occurrence of the Cocos Booby as a fall species to British Columbia mirrors the pattern found in California, where non-breeding birds move northward from Mexico with July through November as the peak time of occurrence (Hamilton et al. 2007). It should be noted that in southern California, this species occurs throughout the year, so observers in British Columbia should keep an eye open for this species along the coast at other seasons (Hamilton et al. 2007). It seems highly likely that there will be more observations of the Cocos Booby in British Columbia in the future. With climate change and the temperature of the world’s oceans continually warming up, observers should watch for this elegant visitor when near the coast as it will happen again.

 

1.(1) adult female October 20, 2008: Gary Krause, mobs (photo) 12 miles south of the A-B Line   Dixon Entrance (Morgan et al. 2009)

2.(1) adult August 29, 2009: Rick Toochin & Mike & Sharon Toochin, mobs: Sheringham Point &  Tower Point, Witty’s Lagoon Park, Metchosin (Charleswort 2010a, Toochin et al. 2014)  

   (1) adult August 31, 2009: Rick Toochin: Otter Point, Sooke (Toochin et al. 2014)  

   (1) adult September 1, 2009: fide Louis Haviland: sitting on buoy off Whiffin Spit, Sooke (Toochin et al. 2014)

3.(1) adult August 23-24, 2013: Steve Fitzpatrick (photo) NW. Hecate Strait, off QCI (Toochin et al. 2014)

4.(1) adult September 4, 2013: Mike and Sharon Toochin, mobs (photo) 20NM  west off south of Nootka Island (Toochin et al. 2014)

5.(1) adult November 12-13, 2013: Robbie Heggelund (photo) rode on a commercial fishing vessel off Ucluelet at the Nitinat outflow, North-east of Pt. Renfrew (R. Cannings Pers. Comm.)  

6.(1) adult September 14, 2014: Tom Forge (photo) mouth of south Arm of Fraser River, north of Sandheads, Richmond (R. Cannings Pers. Comm.)

7.(1) adult September 20, 2014: Christopher Stevens, mobs (photo) off Tofino (M. Ashbee Pers. Comm.)

8.(1) adult August 28, 2015: Derek Kyostia (photo) in Knight Inlet (50 39.854°N, 126 06.694°W) (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

9.(1) juvenile October 11, 2015: Cathy Carlson (photo) off Beechy Head, East Sooke (C. Carlson Pers. Comm.)

   (1) juvenile October 12, 2015: Jeremy Gatten (photo) off Silver Spring, East Sooke (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

10.(1) adult 2nd year October 18, 2015: fide Peter Hamel (photo) landed on fishing boat off  Victoria Harbour and road ship to Campbell River (P. Hamel Pers. Comm.)

11.(1) adult female October 20, 2015: Alicia Amerson (photo) west of Bamfield [48°47.08 N, 125° 20.62 W] (D. Cecile Pers. Comm. )

12.(1) adult November 4, 2016: Avery Bartels, mobs (photo) off East Sooke Park (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

13.(1) adult October 2, 2017: Mark Hamel (photo) off Sandheads Jetty, Richmond (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

14.(1) adult December 5, 2017: Greg Petri, mobs (photo) well west of Brooks Peninsula (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

15.(1) adult January 29, 2018: Ashley Olender, mobs (photo: bird injured & captured by SPCA then died February 3) Ogden Pt. Breakwater, Victoria (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

16.(1) adult May 15, 2018: Keith Taylor: off the Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

17.(1) adult August 22, 2018: Gord Curry, Ted Down (photo) NW of Pultney Pt. Lighthouse, Malcolm Island (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

18.(1) adult female September 21-October 3, 2019: Dan Pontalti, Grant Edwards, mobs (photo) off the tip of the  South Jetty, Iona Island Regional Park, Richmond (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

      (1) adult female October 8, 2019: Anne Murray: off Brunswick Point, Delta (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

      (1) adult female October 8, 2019: Gordon Rowles (photo) observed from sailing boat, 4 miles south of Victoria (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

19.(1) adult September 21, 2019: Roger Stone: 80 miles South-east of Moresby Island, Haida Gwaii (R. Stone Pers. Comm.)

20.(1) adult March 12-13, 2022: Marie Robert, mobs (photo) landed on Canadian Coast Guard vessel John P. Tully, almost 200 NM west of Triangle Island (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

21.(1) adult female November 14, 2022: Lochlan Wylie, mobs (photo/video) bird landed on sailboat 2km west of  Westham Island (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

       (1) adult female November 14, 2022: John Hall, mobs (photo/video) west of Galiano Island [same bird as above] (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)
22.(1) adult October 26, 2023: William Woodbury (photo) landed on fishing vessel The Hannio Lio, 4 miles west of Tian Head, west coast of Haida Gwaii (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

23.(1) adult November 8, 2023: Walter Thorne (photo) seen from the M.V. COHO Ferry (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)
24.(1) adult December 28, 2023: Brendan Toews, Angela Bond, and Chloe Boynton: On buoy 750m offshore from Peace Arch Provincial Park, Surrey (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.)

I wish to thank Peter Hamel and Margo Hearne for providing me with additional information on the published record from October 2008 and tracking down the photo taken by the Some Family. I also want to thank Mike Ashbee for allowing me to use his photograph of a Cocos Booby off Tofino and additional information on the sighting. I also want to thank Mitch Meredith for additional information on El Nino. I also want to thank Russell Cannings and Don Cecile for information on recent Provincial Cocos Booby sightings. All photos are used with permission of the photographer and are fully protected by copyright law.

 

Charleswort, C. 2010a. Fall season– British Columbia. North American Birds 64: 103-105.

 

Dunn, J. L. and J. Alderfer. 2011. National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington D.C. 574pp.

 

Gibson, D.D, L. H. DeCicco, R. E. Gill Jr., S. C. Heinl, A. J. Lang, T. G. Tobish Jr., and J. J. Withrow. 2015. Checklist of Alaska Birds. 21st Edition: 2015. [Online Resource] Retrieved from http://www.universityofalaskamuseumbirds.org/products/checklist.pdf [Accessed: June 2, 2015].

 

Hamilton, R. A., M. A. Patten, and R. A. Erickson. 2007. Rare Birds of California: A work of the California rare bird record committee. Western Field Ornithologists, Camarillo, California. 605pp.

 

Morgan, K., S. Wallace, and G. Krause. 2009. First record of a Brown Booby in British Columbia, Canada, British Columbia Birds 19: 13-15.

 

OFO. 2012. Oregon Field Ornithologists - Records Committee. [Online resource] http://www. oregonbirds.org/index.html. [Accessed: December 14, 2013].

 

Schreiber, E. A. and R. L. Norton. 2002. Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/649

 

Sibley, D. A. 2003. The Sibley field guide to birds of Western North America. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 273pp.

 

Tietz, J. and G. McCaskie. 2014. Update to Rare Birds of California: 1 January 2004 – 4 February 2014. [Online Resource] Retrieved from      http://www.californiabirds.org/cbrc_book/update.pdf [Accessed: February 8, 2015].

 

Toochin, R., J. Fenneman and P. Levesque. 2014. British Columbia rare bird records: January 1, 2014: 3rd Edition. [Online resource] Retrieved from http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/documents/BCRareBirdListJanuary2014XZBC.pdf [Accessed: March 2, 2014].

 

Wahl, T. R, B. Tweit, and S. Mlodinow. 2005. Birds of Washington: Status and Distribution. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, Oregon. 436pp.

 

WBRC. 2014. Washington Bird Records Committee – Summary of Decisions. Washington Ornithological Society, Seattle, WA. [Online resource]  http://www.wos.org/wbrcaccepteddec2014.pdf [Accessed: June 21, 2015].