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Azul was a baby booby bird.
He actually did not know what he was but he lived on a low branch of a Palo Santo tree on an island in the Galapagos Archipelago. His mum and dad were adult red footed booby birds and they both went off every day and came back later with food for Azul.
Azul was not sure but he felt there was something different about him.
For a start he did not have red feet. They were a different colour all together. He also found it impossible to balance on the tree branch. The other babies could sit there all day but Azul wobbled backwards and forwards and just managed to stay there by leaning on the other branches. His feet were simply not able to hold on.
One day Azul was desperately trying to balance when he fell off altogether.
He landed, a heap of fluffy feathers right on top of Ike the land Iguana, who regularly scuttled about under the trees.
"Oi!" shouted Ike. "What do you think you are playing at? You could have knocked my eye out with that beak of yours."
"I am very very sorry Mr. Ike," sobbed Azul. "I can't help it. There is something wrong with my feet. They are not able to hold on to the branch."
"Let me see!" growled Ike as pushed back Azul's fluffy feathers. "I know what's wrong with you. You are in the wrong place. You are not a red footed booby. You are a blue footed booby. They do not need to hold on to branches because they live on the ground near the shore, not in trees."
"How did I come to be here then?" asked Azul.
"I have no idea," said Ike. "Your egg must have landed in the wrong nest. You cannot stay here because you will not be able to get back into the tree and the short eared owl or the Galapagos Hawk will see you as a meal and gobble you up."
"Ohhh!" cried Azul. "Where are the blue foot boobies and how can I get to them?"
"Well, I have seen them on this island but I am not sure where they have their nests. However I have a relation called Barnacle Iggy and he lives by the shore because he is a marine Iguana, and he will know where their nests are. Barnacle Iggy has a flat tail to help him swim in the water and I have a round tail to help me walk on the land. So don't worry Azul, we all have relations who are a bit different to suit the place where they live. The red foot boobies are your cousins but they have special feet which grip on to the trees where they live. I shall go immediately and find Iggy."
Ike lumbered off towards the shore but he had not gone far when Rusty the nosey red crab met him. "Where are you going Ike?" asked Rusty. "Mind your own business you nosey crab," replied Ike. "It is my business," said Rusty. "I have no enemies on this island and I can mix with all the animals and take and deliver messages. If you go too near the marine iguanas territory they might think you want to steal their land and fight with you."
"O.K. O.K. I know the rules!" snapped Ike. "Since you are so clever you can take an important message to my cousin Barnacle Iggy."
"Right," said Rusty. "What is the message?"
"Ask him if he knows where the blue footed boobies are nesting," said Ike. "There is a blue footed baby in danger in the Red footed camp, and we need to get him a blue foot Mum and Dad."
"Good as done!" said Rusty and scuttled off sideways with great speed.
Ike went back to where Azul was lying terrified under the branch. "Don't worry little fellow," he said kindly. "We shall soon find the blue foots and you will be safe."
"Even if you find them," asked Azul, "how am I going to get to them? I cannot fly. I cannot walk. In fact I can hardly move at all."
"One step at a time," said Ike wisely. "We shall think of something."
Rusty, in spite of his confidence, could not find Barnacle Iggy straight away so he asked Salar the sea lion who was lying sleeping in the sun.
"Go away Rusty" honked Salar, "You are a very annoying crab. I have been fishing in the cold sea and I am just getting nice and warm again."
"I have a very important message for Barnacle Iggy", announced Rusty. "Oink off" said Salar rather rudely and rolled over and went back to sleep.
Rusty then spotted Lizzie the lizard. She was much smaller than Salar and not so likely to be rude to him. Besides he knew the lizards were always hanging about with the iguanas. They watched the iguanas and then tried to copy them!
"Barnacle Iggy" sighed Lizzie, "he is my hero. I have just seen him fight off two other iguanas for that piece of sand over there. Look he is sitting there now. The victor! I wish I could find a male lizard who would fight for me."
"Silly Lizzie," muttered Rusty and scuttled over to Iggy who was sitting with his head up looking very pleased with himself. Rusty decided he had better show some respect in case Iggy was still in a fighting mood.
"Excuse me sir," he said. Iggy turned round, opened his mouth showing his big red tongue, and hissed like a dragon.
Rusty took two steps back and continued, "Your cousin Ike tells me you are very wise and will be able to tell him where the blue foot boobies live. He needs to find them as there is a baby blue foot in the red foot camp. He has fallen off his tree because his feet cannot hold on and he will die unless we can find him a blue foot family."
Barnacle Iggy liked being thought of as very wise so he puffed up even more and said, "They are along the shore beside the cliffs. I don't speak to them but Pharoah the frigate bird over there will get to them for you."
Pharoah was a fine black frigate bird with a beautiful red chest which he had blown up a little and was strutting in front of the lady frigates trying to impress them. He was not having much success so he was quite pleased when Rusty gave him an excuse to leave the ladies. "Perhaps those stuck up ladies will take notice of me now when I speak to the booby birds", he thought and flew off immediately.
It was not long before he found a pair of blue footed boobies without a chick. "I just stood up for a few minutes to stretch my legs and my egg rolled away," wailed the female bird. "Carelessness beyond the norm," squawked back her mate.
"You can stop arguing now," said Pharoah, "because a blue foot booby has been hatched over in the red foot colony. He has fallen out of his nest and is in great danger of being taken by the short eared owl or the Galapagos Hawk unless we can get him over here. Will you be his new parents? It could even have been your egg."
"Oh yes we will," they both said together. "It is like getting a second chance."
"Stay here until I contact you. I shall organise some transport and bring him to your nest," said Pharoah very pompously, although he had no idea how anyone could get a wobbly floppy baby from the Palo Santo trees to the shore. However he reported his news to Rusty who had been running up and down impatiently.
Rusty was so excited that he tumbled over himself several times in his haste to get back to Ike and Azul. "We have found a family for Azul!" he shouted as he passed Barnacle Iggy, Lizzie and Salar. "Stand by for further instructions!"
When Ike heard the news he told Rusty to call a conference to decide how to get Azul to the blue foots. "Aye, aye Captain," said Rusty, "they are all waiting and ready". And Pharoah and Salar and Lizzie and Iggy all gathered on a rock with Ike and Rusty.
"We need an animal who can carry Azul over to the blue foots," began Ike, "because he certainly can't move himself."
"Albert the albatross" said Pharoah immediately. "He is the biggest and strongest of all the birds."
"Good thought," said Ike, "but Azul's feet cannot hold on to Albert's back. He would just fall off."
"Colin the cormorant" suggested silly Lizzie.
"He is as much use as a chocolate sunshade," sneered Salar. "He can't even fly. In fact he is just a fish out of water!"
"He is evolving," said Iggy.
"Which way" said Salar, "Is he a bird evolving into a fish or a fish turning into a bird?"
"The cormorants nearly all died of starvation when the El Nino organisms made a thick layer on top of the water and only the ones like Colin with very short wings could dive deep enough to get underneath the water to the fish. So I suppose he is a bird having to turn into a fish to get food."
"Piguin the penguin is a better swimmer than Colin," continued Salar, but Pharoah interrupted. "This is no time to be arguing about Darwin's theory of evolution. Azul is in great danger and there is only one bird who can do the job."
"Who?" they all chorused.
"Pilar the pelican. She can carry Azul in her pouch."
"Of course!" they cheered, "You are very clever Pharoah. Go and find her right away."
Pharoah's chest swelled up even more with pride and he had great difficulty getting off the ground but he did notice the lady frigate birds had all turned round and were looking at him with admiration. He soon returned with Pilar and Mrs Blue Foot beside him and they landed next to Azul who was very tired and weak. His red footed Mummy had come back and when Ike explained what they were going to do she was so happy.
"We have been so worried about Azul," she said. "We knew we must have hatched the wrong egg and we just hoped we could raise him until he could fly, but the short eared owl and the Galapagos Hawk have been watching him for days, just waiting for him to fall off."
"He is safe now," said Mrs Blue Foot kindly, and both the mummies pushed Azul into Pilar's pouch before the hawk swooped. With Mrs Blue Foot leading the way, Pilar and Pharoah flew together with Azul safe in Pilar's pouch. They had to stop once or twice to give Pilar a rest but eventually they arrived at the Blue Foot nest where Mr Blue Foot had some fish waiting for Azul and Pilar.
There was a great celebration that night when the animals went home and told all their friends about the difficult problem they had solved together with team work.
Azul grew up to be a very fine Blue Footed Booby. He never got tired of telling his story to all the other Blue Foots and in fact they made him the king of their colony. So if you ever visit the Galapagos Islands look out carefully for small colonies of blue footed boobies near by all the red footed ones. If you see a magnificent Booby with his head held high and very, very blue feet then it will almost certainly be Azul their king!
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