Sulidae Lambert M Surhone

Publisher Marketing: Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The bird family Sulidae comprises the gannets and boobies. Collectively called sulidas, they are medium-large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish and similar prey. The species in this family are often considered congeneric in older sources, placing all in the genus Sula. However, Sula (true boobies) and Morus (gannets) can be readily distinguished by morphological and behavioral and DNA sequence characters. Abbott's Booby (Papasula) stands apart from both in these respects and appears to be a distinct and ancient lineage, maybe closer to the gannets than to the true boobies. Sulids measure about 60 to 85 cm (24 to 33 in) in length and have a wingspan of about 140 to 175 cm (4.6 to 5.7 ft). They have long, narrow and pointed wings, and a quite long, graduated and rather lozenge-shaped tail whose outer feathers are shorter than the central ones. Their flight muscles are rather small to allow for the small cross section required for plunge-diving, and thus their wing loading is high. Consequently, they are very streamlined, reducing drag, so their bodies are "torpedo-shaped" as well as somewhat flat.