Red-billed Tropicbird

Phaethon aethereusOrder: PELECANIFORMES Family: Tropicbirds (Phaethontidae)

Codes: Common Name: RBTR Scientific Name: PHAAET ITIS Taxonomic No.: 174673

Breeding Location:

Coastal, sea

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Thought to pair for life, Colonial or solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Rare in North America

Egg Color:

Red brown or white buff with blotches or spots

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Migration:

Migratory

General

Red-billed Tropicbird: Slender, white, gull-like seabird with long white tail streamers. White back, finely barred black. Black eye stripe curves upward behind eye, almost meets at nape. Black primaries, red bill. Juvenile lacks tail streamers, has black collar, and black-tipped tail.

Range and Habitat

Red-billed Tropicbird: Found in warm open ocean waters, often far from shore. Breeds on remote coastal islands or occasionally coastal mainland of Pacific Mexico and Caribbean. Occasional visitor off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Florida and California. Rare to Gulf Coast, one record for Arizona.

Breeding and Nesting

Red-billed Tropicbird: Monogamous semi-colonial nester. Scrape nest built by both male and female in a cave or burrow, sometimes on ground, always close to shore. Female lays one blotched or spotted red brown or white buff egg. Both sexes incubate for approximately 44 days and tend young until fledging. Young may stay in nest for up to 12 weeks.

Foraging and Feeding

Red-billed Tropicbird: Flies high above water with direct, fast, and shallow wingbeats. Dives into water to catch fish and squid.

Vocalization

Red-billed Tropicbird: Shrill and grating tern-like rattles often repeated in breeding colonies. Usually silent at sea.

Similar Species

Red-billed Tropicbird: Red-tailed tropicbird is smaller, with more white overall, and red tail streamers. Lacks fine black barring on back. White-tailed Tropicbird is smaller with all white back, black "V"-shaped pattern extending from rump to wings, and with much less black in the primaries. Eye stripe is reduced and is downward curving behind the eye.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Red-billed Tropicbird

Red-billed Tropicbird: Slender, white, gull-like seabird with long white tail streamers. White back, finely barred black. Black eye stripe curves upward behind eye, almost meets at nape. Black primaries, red bill. Direct, rapid flight, pigeonlike, stiff, shallow wingbeats. The largest tropicbird.

● Song: "krreea", "krri-krri-krri-krri-krri-krri"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-billed Tropicbird: Flies high above water with direct, fast, and shallow wingbeats. Dives into water to catch fish and squid.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-billed Tropicbird: Monogamous semi-colonial nester. Scrape nest built by both male and female in a cave or burrow, sometimes on ground, always close to shore. Female lays one blotched or spotted red brown or white buff egg. Both sexes incubate for approximately 44 days and tend young until fledging. Young may stay in nest for up to 12 weeks.

● Similar species: Red-billed Tropicbird: Red-tailed tropicbird is smaller, with more white overall, and red tail streamers. Lacks fine black barring on back. White-tailed Tropicbird is smaller with all white back, black "V"-shaped pattern extending from rump to wings, and with much less black in the primaries. Eye stripe is reduced and is downward curving behind the eye.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with strong steady shallow wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Red-billed Tropicbird: Found in warm open ocean waters, often far from shore. Breeds on remote coastal islands or occasionally coastal mainland of Pacific Mexico and Caribbean. Occasional visitor off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Florida and California. Rare to Gulf Coast, one record for Arizona.

^BreedingMonogamous, Thought to pair for life, Colonial or solitary nester

^PopulationRare in North America

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight27.2 Ounces

Collar

Similar to the upper part of the human neck, located at the back of the crown.

Nape

Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.

Primaries

The primaries are the flight feathers specialized for flight. They are attached to the "hand" equivalent part of the wing.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America