Bullied booby chicks end up OK

Abuse doesn’t hamper younger birds’ fitness

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — What does not kill them makes them successful blue-footed boobies.

Blue-footed boobies abuse younger and weaker siblings in the nest, but research shows that persecuted chicks turn out just fine, thank you. putneymark/flickr

Among seabirds named for their big, cornflower-blue feet, adversity early in life doesn’t necessarily put kids at a lifelong disadvantage, says Hugh Drummond of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City.