Red-tailed Tropicbird

Phaethon rubricaudaOrder: PELECANIFORMES Family: Tropicbirds (Phaethontidae)

Codes: Common Name: RTTR Scientific Name: PHARUB ITIS Taxonomic No.: 174679

Breeding Location:

Seashore, rocky or sandy

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Colonial

Breeding Population:

Very rare

Egg Color:

Gray with heavy red brown spotting

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

39 - 45

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

No nest materials.

Migration:

Migratory

General

Red-tailed Tropicbird: Medium-sized tropicbird with silky white plumage and small but conspicuous black eyestripe. Bill is coral red. Legs and feet are black. Tail has long, red central streamers. Sexes are similar. Juvenile lacks tail streamers, has black bill, and black-barred upperparts.

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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and 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.

Vocalization

Red-tailed Tropicbird: Calls include a guttural squawk of varying intensity and high, whistle-like screeches.

Similar Species

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

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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-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.

● 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

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Pelagic

The pelagic is a type of bird whose habitat is on the open ocean rather than in a coastal region or on inland bodies of water (lakes, rivers). An example of a pelagic bird is the blacklegged kittiwake.

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