‘Angel wing’ is a developmental wing deformity among birds that can cause flightlessness; it is mostly known from domestic birds, especially waterfowl, and has only rarely been reported among wild bird populations. We estimated that 460 (4.4%) Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) chicks on Clipperton Island (10° 18′ N, 109° 13′ W) in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean exhibited angel wing during March 2005. Both hatching-year birds and after-hatching-year birds exhibited the condition; the latter included seven flightless birds in adult plumage (i.e., minimum 2 yrs of age) which were still being fed by their presumed parents. The angel wing outbreak coincided in time with high nestling mortality, apparently related to food shortage, and we speculate on causal linkages.

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