Details
Phaethon aethereus
The red-billed tropicbird is a white tropical seabird with a red bill and long tail streamers. It breeds colonially on cliffs, ledges, and rocky island cavities.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It ranges over tropical and subtropical Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean waters. Breeding sites are oceanic islands with cliffs, ledges, or crevices.
Length is 48-50 cm and weight 600-835 g. The body is white with black wing markings and eye lines, a heavy red bill, and elongated central tail feathers.
Diurnal and colonial, it flies alone or in small groups over the sea. Around colonies, birds circle and call in conspicuous display flights.
A carnivore, it eats mainly small fish and squid. It searches close to the surface and captures prey with shallow plunge-dives.
Little nest material is used; a single egg is laid in a rocky hollow or cliff crevice. Both adults incubate and bring fish or squid to the chick.
It is listed as Least Concern. On breeding islands, introduced mammals and human disturbance can threaten colonies, making secure cliff sites important.
