Red-tailed Tropicbird

Phaethon rubricaudaOrder: PELECANIFORMESFamily: Tropicbirds (Phaethontidae)
Red-tailed Tropicbird Portrait
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Range Map for Red-tailed Tropicbird

Overview

Red-tailed Tropicbird: Medium tropicbird with silky white plumage, small but conspicuous black eyestripe. Bill is coral red. Legs and feet are black. Tail has long, red central streamers. Swift, purposeful flight, alternates fluttering wing beats with glides. Hovers while hunting and in courtship.

Range and Habitat

Red-tailed Tropicbird: Nests on the Hawaiian Islands and disperses widely in tropical and subtropical areas of the Indian and Pacific oceans; accidental off southern California. More pelagic that other tropicbirds, usually seen far out at sea.

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Listen:

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Voice Text

"squawk", "chirps"

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Related Birds:

Red-footed Booby
Masked Booby
White-tailed Tropicbird
Red-billed Tropicbird
Northern Gannet
.

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Family Tropicbird (Phaethontidae)_blue
Species Phaethon rubricauda
Length18 - 36 Inches
Wingspan44 Inches

Red-tailed Tropicbird

Red-tailed Tropicbird: Medium tropicbird with silky white plumage, small but conspicuous black eyestripe. Bill is coral red. Legs and feet are black. Tail has long, red central streamers. Swift, purposeful flight, alternates fluttering wing beats with glides. Hovers while hunting and in courtship.

● Song: "squawk", "chirps"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-tailed Tropicbird: Feeds on small fish and squid. Hovers over water after spotting prey, and then dives from the air to catch it.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-tailed Tropicbird: One gray egg with heavy red brown spotting is laid on the ground in sand. Incubation ranges from 39 to 45 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Red-tailed Tropicbird: Red-billed Tropicbird lacks red central tail feathers, has orange-red bill, barred back, and black primaries.

Flight Pattern

Swift flight alternating rapid shallow wing beats with long glides.
Red-tailed Tropicbird Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Red-tailed Tropicbird: Nests on the Hawaiian Islands and disperses widely in tropical and subtropical areas of the Indian and Pacific oceans; accidental off southern California. More pelagic that other tropicbirds, usually seen far out at sea.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationVery rare
MigrationMigratory
Weight22.4 Ounces