The adult Red-tailed Tropicbird is predominantly white with a pink sheen of varying intensity. Central tail feathers are characteristically bright red and elongated, into streamers. There is a black stripe extending on ether side of the eye. The bill is bright red and the legs and feet are grey to black. The juvenile is heavily barred black and white on its head, back, rump and upper wing. The bill is grey or black and there are no red streamers.
Not Threatened.
The adult Red-tailed Tropicbird is predominantly white with a pink sheen of varying intensity. Central tail feathers are characteristically bright red and elongated, into streamers. There is a black stripe extending on ether side of the eye. The bill is bright red and the legs and feet are grey to black. The juvenile is heavily barred black and white on its head, back, rump and upper wing. The bill is grey or black and there are no red streamers.
Head and Body Length (incl. streamers) 950-1040cm Wingspan 1110-1190mm Wing 249-353mm Tail (incl. streamers) 404mm Bill 66-70mm Tarsus 31-37mm Weight 800g
Taxonomy:
- Phaeton [sic] rubricauda Boddaert, 1783, Mauritius. Birds of C Pacific sometimes placed in separate race rothschildi. Recent work indicates that races form a N S cline, and that species should probably be considered monotypic. Four subspecies recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * rubricauda Boddaert, 1783 - W Indian Ocean. westralis Mathews, 1912 - * E Indian Ocean. * roseotincta (Mathews, 1926) - SW Pacific. * melanorhynchus Gmelin, 1789 - W, C & S Pacific.
The Red-tailed Tropicbird is a pelagic or ocean-going species that inhabits tropical, marine waters. This species prefers waters of between 24 and 30 °C, but is recorded occasionally in cooler waters, following warm currents (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Nests are located on isolated islands at inaccessible locations such as cliffs and may be used for more than six breeding seasons.
This species feeds on fish and squid (Barker & Vestjens 1989) and forages by diving deeply into the water. Individuals are generally solitary when foraging and may venture hundreds of kilometres away from breeding sites. The species has been recorded following ships for short periods (Marchant & Higgins 1990).
Breeding occurs between October and April. Complex aerial displays are performed prior to and immediately following egg laying. A single egg is laid and incubated for 41 to 51 days by both parents (Hutton 1991). The parents guard and feed the young for approximately 3 months, at which time the young fledges and becomes independent. The age of breeding and pair formation is unknown (Marchant & Higgins 1990). This species nests individually or in small breeding colonies and is territorial, defending the nest by a defence display and fighting (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Nests are a simple scrape that may be surrounded by plant material and stones (Hutton 1991). The pelagic Red-tailed Tropicbird is generally solitary, although it forms monogamous bonds for breeding.