Alternative name: Boatswain Bird
- Phaethon aethereus
Identification
90–107 cm (35½-42 in), including tail streamers
Ws. 1m
- Very long central tail feathers
- Can give bird total length of 96cm
- Black on outer primaries
- Black primary coverts on upperside
- Black eye patch tends to turn up behind the eye
- Red bill
Sexes are similar; males average longer-tailed
Juvenile
- Lack tail streamers
- Greyer-backed
- Yellow bill
Similar species
White-tailed Tropicbird and Red-tailed Tropicbird. White-tailed Tropicbird has white primary coverts on upperside and black eye line tends to turn down, not up.
Distribution
Photo © by bionicsherpa
South Plaza, Galapagos, Ecuador, March 2009
Found in tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the north-west Indian Ocean and the eastern Pacific.
They breed in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, off the Pacific coast of Mexico, in the Caribbean, the Canary Islands, Spain, on islands in the southern Atlantic, and the Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabian coasts.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognized[1]:
- P. a. mesonauta:
- Subtropical and tropical eastern Pacific, Caribbean and eastern Atlantic
- P. a. aethereus:
- Fernando de Noronha, Ascension Island and St Helena (south Atlantic)
- P. a. indicus:
- Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden (at at one time considered a full species, the Lesser Red-billed Tropicbird.)
Habitat
Tropical islands, coastal cliffs and maritime.
Behaviour
Action
Reported to be not a good swimmer.
Breeding
They breed on tropical islands, laying a single egg on cliff ledges or on the ground.
Diet
They feed on fish and squid.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BirdLife International
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Red-billed Tropicbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Red-billed_Tropicbird
