Boobrie (boob-ree)

Boobries were a type of wading bird. Boobries usually stood on one leg while the other was tucked beneath their body. The reason for this behavior was not fully understood. Research indicated that standing on one leg may have allowed the birds to conserve more body heat, given that they spent a significant amount of time wading in cold water. However, the behavior also took place in warm water. As well as standing in the water, boobries stamped their webbed feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom. Young boobries hatched with greyish purpleish plumage, but adults ranged from light purple to bright blue. A well-fed, healthy boobrie was more vibrantly colored and thus a more desirable mate; a white or pale boobrie, however, was usually unhealthy or malnourished.

Boobries were very social birds; they lived in colonies whose population could number in the thousands. These large colonies were believed to serve three purposes for the boobries: avoiding predators, maximizing food intake, and using scarce suitable nesting sites more efficiently. Before breeding, boobrie colonies split into breeding groups of about 15 to 50 birds. Both males and females in these groups performed synchronized ritual displays. The members of a group stood together and displayed to each other by stretching their necks upwards, then uttering calls while head-flagging, and then flapping their wings.