Please help with bird type

Yes, gannet. It looks like the Northern Gannet about 2/3rds of which breed around the UK but during the winter they are very wide ranging. Many of the UK ones winter off the coast of west Africa. Ones from breeding colonies in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia are likely to winter in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dave
 
I still think its a masked booby. Black tail, black primary and secondary feathers, black around the gape and I can't see any hint of a yellow head. Gannets I've seen have white tails and black wing tips but they may be different in the caribbean. I could be wrong though :D

bottom of this page link
http://www.donenright.com/three-beautiful-boobies/
 
bumper said:
I still think its a masked booby. Black tail, black primary and secondary feathers, black around the gape and I can't see any hint of a yellow head. Gannets I've seen have white tails and black wing tips but they may be different in the caribbean. I could be wrong though :D

bottom of this page link
http://www.donenright.com/three-beautiful-boobies/
Click to expand...

This, Masked Booby - especially Black tail and pointy wings

both members of the same family
 
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Not a great image by any means, but taken a few years ago on a Caribbean cruise....

The sheer joy I got watching these follow the flying fish into the water was amazing.

And yes, a Masked Booby

Booby by Steve Jelly, on Flickr
 
Apologies all, I was wrong. It is not a northern gannet. I've learnt something - don't jump to conclusions; in general shape it has gannet written all over it; and after you've jumped to a conclusion, have another look.

Dave
 
Aren't Gannets Boobies or Boobies Gannets? They look very similar in shape if not colouration.

Not disputing the identification, just wondering if they're the same family like Blackbirds and Thrushes.
 
They are both Sulidae. But a a masked booby is a masked booby not a gannet, a gannet is a gannet.

It's like saying a redwing is a song thrush because they're both Turdidae, thrush family.




sort of :D
 
So yes, they are the same family.
 
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