Red-tailed Tropicbird

Phaethon rubricaudaOrder: PELECANIFORMES Family: Tropicbirds (Phaethontidae)

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

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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

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