HEALTH STATUS OF RED-FOOTED BOOBIES ( SULA SULA) DETERMINED BY HEMATOLOGY, BIOCHEMISTRY, BLOOD GASES, AND PHYSICAL EXAMINATION.

The red-footed booby (Sula sula) is a widely distributed sulid native to the Galapagos archipelago. Hematology and blood chemistry parameters have been published for this species, but not from the San Cristobal rookery. Analyses were run on blood samples drawn from 31 manually restrained red-footed boobies that were captured by hand from their nests at Punta Pitt on San Cristobal Island. A portable blood analyzer (iSTAT) was used to obtain near immediate field results for pH, partial pressure of oxygen, partial pressure of carbon dioxide, bicarbonate, hematocrit, hemoglobin, sodium, potassium, ionized calcium, and glucose. Blood lactate was measured using a portable Lactate PlusTM analyzer. Average heart rate, respiratory rate, body weight, body temperature, and biochemistry and hematology parameters were comparable to those of healthy individuals of other sulids. The reported results provide baseline data that can be used for comparisons among populations and in detecting changes in health status among Galapagos red-footed boobies.