Since 1959, the Charles Darwin Foundation has been committed to studying and protecting the Galápagos Islands. It seems their affiliated Research Station (CDRS) is always learning something new. An example is the Nazca booby. Until 2002, it was considered to be part of the masked booby family. But after extensive DNA analysis, the Nazca booby was reclassified as sula granti. It seems evolution separated the two seabirds about a half million years ago. This discovery would have made Charles Darwin proud. He was the original evolutionist on the Galápagos Islands. The telltale orange bill of this adult Nazca booby indicates it is a male. The female’s bill is pink.
