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Conservation, Press Release
Red-footed boobies (Sula sula) nest on Boatswain Bird Island Sanctuary and offshore stacks. However, last week, the Ascension Island Government (AIG) Conservation and Fisheries Directorate recorded a nesting on mainland Ascension for the first time.
The discovery was made on the Letterbox Nature Reserve (NR). The bird was found perched high on some branches and it is hoped that the complex nest structure will prevent access to rodents. Upon closer inspection, a single egg was found in the nest bowl being proudly brooded by the parent bird.
Red-footed boobies can be found in two colour morphs on Ascension: pale white and chocolate brown. This nest has an adult of both colour varieties, both showing a rainbow of colours around their bill, a distinctive white tail and charismatic red feet.
Since the feral cat eradication in 2002, the number of seabirds recolonising old nesting sites has increased exponentially and areas such as Letterbox NR are now a haven for nesting birds. Last year, AIG Conservation recorded 1,430 nesting attempts by Ascension frigatebirds (Fregata aquila) as well as over 3,000 Masked booby (Sula dactylatra) nests! This highlights the importance of the feral cat eradication which has been called one of the greatest conservation success stories of our time.
Only one species has not returned to the mainland since the introduction of species including cats and rodents. This is the band-rumped storm petrel (Oceanodroma castro), a tiny seabird around the size of a canary. The AIG Conservation team are in the process of building a rodent-proof fenced site to encourage range expansion, and are hopeful this may occur in the next few years.
The AIG Conservation team will monitor the red-footed booby nest and provide further updates.
AIG Conservation and Fisheries Directorate
18 August 2025