Sula leucogaster
Status: Rare casual summer visitor central and east.
Documentation: Photograph: 30 Jun 2014 Sarpy Co (Brogie 2015).
Taxonomy: Four subspecies are recognized (Gill et al 2022): brewsteri of the Gulf of California and off western Mexico, leucogaster of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, plotus, of the Indian Ocean and central and western Pacific, and etesiaca, of islands off Central America and Colombia.
Photographs of the Nebraska Brown Boobies show they are referable to leucogaster, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico subspecies (Brogie 2015).
Summer: There are two records:
28 Jun-1 Jul 2014 Hanson Lake, Sarpy Co (Brogie 2015)
29 May-25 Jun 2017 Harlan County Reservoir, Harlan Co (Silcock 2017a, 2017b, Brogie 2018).
Nebraska’s first booby of any species was a Brown, photographed by Joan Bergeron at a private lake development, Hanson Lake, in southern Sarpy Co (Brogie 2015). Despite several “drive-by” searches on nearby streets, it was not relocated by birders.
Many observers saw Nebraska’s second, which was first reported by Jeff Drahota to Laurel Badura 29 May 2017 as it flew by his boat while he was fishing at Harlan County Reservoir; it was confirmed 31 May and seen by many through 25 Jun, most easily at its overnight roost on the west face of the dam.
Comments: In recent years there have been an increasing number of reports of this species northward in the Interior USA, probably related to northward movement by the species as a whole in North America. There are numerous records scattered over the eastern and southern US including several in Oklahoma and southern Missouri, and northwestward to Wisconsin (eBird.org, accessed Oct 2023). Northwestward on the Great Plains there are only about four records. There is a single Iowa record, 3 Sep 2015, one for Colorado 22 Jun 2016, and the two for Nebraska 29 May-1 Jul (eBird.org, accessed Oct 2023). A Brown Booby photographed atop a wind turbine in Gray Co, Kansas 31 Jul 2017 (KSBirds 2017) was a first for that state. The location of the Kansas sighting was approximately 322 km (200 miles) south of Harlan County Reservoir and the bird’s appearance was similar to the one present there weeks earlier, suggesting it was the same individual.
Images
Literature Cited
Brogie, M.A. 2015. 2014 (26th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 83: 125-138.
Brogie, M.A. 2018. 2017 (29th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 86: 131-142.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
KSbirds. 2017. Listserv; Brown Booby photograph, accessed 30 Apr 2018.
Silcock, W.R. 2017a. Spring field report, March-May 2017. NBR 85: 54-84.
Silcock, W.R. 2017b. Summer field report, June-July 2017. NBR 85: 94-120.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2023. Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 20 Oct 2023