Skip to content 
One of the two photographers on the Santa Cruz II Galapagos cruise is me, Felix Reyes. Since starting work here a short while ago, I have had the opportunity to see many amazing things happen throughout the Enchanted Islands. This is among the encounters.
Nazca Booby Infanticide on Genovesa
As we explored with our passengers on our Northern Islands excursion in the Galapagos, it was just another day on the stunning island of Genovesa. We soon saw a rather distressing sight: an adult Nazca booby, one of the famous BIG15 species in the Galapagos, was standing next to what looked to be a barely moving, deceased Nazca booby chick on the ground.
Upon observing this, my optimistic side imagined that the adult Nazca booby was attempting to aid or possibly revive the chick in some way. However, my assumption proved to be incorrect. The adult Nazca booby was trying to permanently put the chick to sleep rather than preventing it from falling into its fabled “eternal slumber.”
To my further surprise, the adult pounced on top of the tiny chick, appearing to make a pathetic attempt to revive the little booby’s heart, but the chick stayed motionless. I realized something sinister happened when the adult began stomping and pecking at the newborn chick.
I quickly called one of our Naturalist Guides to examine the situation I was seeing. After he arrived and had a look at me, he started seriously informing me that this was not only a chick and its parent but rather a victim of evolution and its winged executor. As he continued to explain that occasionally the adult Nazca booby will try to kill its younger, weaker booby chicks to increase the odds of survival for its first chick, a part of me started to suffer.
My heart bled then and there as we watched, seeing an act of natural and “necessary” evil in the context of evolution rather than an act of love. It was more of a mother seeking to avoid competition for her younger, and hopefully stronger, children than a mother trying to tend to her young. Seeing the parents engage in this kind of activity is unusual because Nazca boobies typically engage in siblicide.
Nazca Booby Infanticide: A Sliver of Hope Emerges
As we watched the Nazca booby infanticide tragedy play out in front of us, the adult eventually appeared content with its deadly “work” of pecking and stomping and left the likely “dead” chick lying on the ground.
Our hearts almost burst when we noticed the chick’s head slowly looking up and about as if to make sure everything was fine. It appeared that the little bird had been pretending to be dead after withstanding the adult Nazca booby’s stomping and violent pummels!
With surprise, we all watched as the small Nazca booby stood up and limped away, obviously injured from the attempted infanticide incident. The Nazca booby chick’s fate was left unseen, which made for a very depressing scene to watch. Still, the scene’s lesson was that people who can effectively withstand nature’s aggressive and wild nature can reclaim their lives and use them however they see fit. They’re at liberty.
This is the Galapagos Islands’ distinct and wild beauty at its most pristine! This little Nazca booby chick had shown incredible perseverance and tremendous tenacity to trick and avoid its apparent awful fate.
“Now We Are Free”
I like to assume that on my next visit to Genovesa Island, I will get to see this juvenile Nazca booby, soaring gracefully and pure, with gorgeous adult feathers and full of life instead of down, fully deserving of his place in the colony of Nazca boobies that dwell here.
