Rare Red-Footed Booby Spotted Hopping Onto Boats In Chesapeake Bay

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A routine boat ride on the Chesapeake Bay came with a surprise passenger when a rare tropical seabird landed on the bow of an Annapolis resident’s boat and stayed long enough for photos.

The bird was an immature red-footed booby, a species usually found near the equator and across the warm waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. It was spotted June 21 while the boater was cruising near Thomas Point.

Photos shared by the boater online quickly caught the attention of birders across the country. Soon after, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation highlighted the tropical visitor on its Facebook page, noting the bird has also been seen landing on other boats around the Bay.

A Tropical Bird Far From Home

Despite its unusual name, the red-footed booby is a graceful seabird best known for its bright red feet, long pointed wings and impressive plunge-diving skills as it hunts fish and squid.

Immature birds, like the one spotted in Annaplis, are mostly brown and gradually develop the white or brown plumage seen in adults.

According to the National Audubon Society, red-footed boobies nest on tropical islands and spend most of their lives over open ocean. While they occasionally wander into Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, sightings in the Mid-Atlantic are exceptionally rare.

Scientists believe strong weather systems, shifting wind patterns and natural post-breeding movements can sometimes carry seabirds far outside their normal range, although no one knows exactly what brought this bird to the Chesapeake Bay.

Maryland’s rare visitor wasn’t the only red-footed booby to make headlines this year. In March, birders in Alabama documented what is expected to become that state’s first accepted red-footed booby after the tropical seabird was spotted perched atop a fire tower near Lake Martin.

Only The Second Documented Maryland Sighting

The Chesapeake Bay visitor is especially significant because red-footed boobies have almost never been recorded in Maryland.

According to the Maryland Biodiversity Project, the state’s first documented red-footed booby was recorded Aug. 21, 2024, during the Turkey Point Bird Count in Cecil County. The same bird was documented the following day in Queens, New York, becoming New York’s first recorded sighting of the species.

The June 21 Chesapeake Bay visitor is believed to be only the second documented red-footed booby ever recorded in Maryland, making it an exciting find for local birders and wildlife enthusiasts.

Want to see where red-footed boobies have been spotted? The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s interactive sightings map lets you explore recent observations across North America and beyond: Red-footed Booby sightings map. The map is updated with observations submitted through eBird.

Keep An Eye On The Water

The red-footed booby is not the only unusual visitor spotted in the region this summer.

On July 10, passengers aboard a Rudee Tours fishing boat spotted an estimated 30-foot whale shark about 18 miles off Virginia Beach during a flounder fishing trip. While the whale shark sighting was unrelated to the Chesapeake Bay bird, it happened not far from Maryland waters.

Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish and are typically found in tropical and warm waters. Despite their enormous size, they are harmless filter feeders that eat plankton and small fish.

Between a tropical bird hitching rides on boats in the Chesapeake Bay and a whale shark cruising off the Virginia coast, this summer has already delivered a few surprises for Mid-Atlantic boaters. If you’re heading out on the water, it may be worth keeping your camera handy—you never know what might appear next.

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