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Why do blue-footed boobies often dive into the water at the same time?
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Pelecaniform
European white pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus) in flight.
Blue-footed boobies often dive into the water simultaneously when hunting in groups to increase their foraging success. It is believed that this coordinated, mass plunging helps to confuse schools of fish, thereby making it easier for each bird to capture prey.1
As these birds prepare to dive, they communicate with one another while aloft by emitting a disyllabic whistle. This sound is thought to be a signal provided by the initiator of the dive to coordinate the group's actions.1