White-tailed Tropicbird
White-tailed Tropicbird
Phaethon lepturus
At a Glance
In the United States, this beautiful bird is seen mostly in Hawaii and around the Dry Tortugas, Florida. This is the national bird of Bermuda, where the 'Longtail' is familiar to all and is given complete protection.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
Gull-like Birds, Tropicbirds
IUCN Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Coasts and Shorelines, Open Ocean
Region
Florida, Southeast
Behavior
Flap/Glide, Rapid Wingbeats
Population
400.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
Visits North American waters in spring and summer. Only a summer resident in Bermuda. Present year-round in some parts of Caribbean. Sometimes driven far inland in North America by hurricanes.
Description
32" (81 cm). W. 3'1 (94 cm). White with long tail streamers (sometimes missing), black eye mark and wingtip, black stripe on inner part of wing. Bill yellow or orange. Juvenile short-tailed, with black bars on back.
Size
About the size of a Heron, About the size of a Mallard or Herring Gull
Color
Black, White, Yellow
Wing Shape
Long, Pointed, Tapered
Tail Shape
Long, Pointed, Short, Wedge-shaped
Songs and Calls
A piping keck-keck-keck and other tern-like calls, given in flight.
Call Pattern
Flat
Call Type
Raucous, Scream, Whistle
Habitat
Tropical ocean, islands. Found close to shore around nesting islands but otherwise spends most of its time far out at sea, over warm waters. Nests on islands, often those with rocky cliffs.
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Behavior
Eggs
One. Whitish to pale buff, with brownish and purplish spots. Incubation is by both sexes, 40-42 days, perhaps sometimes shorter.
Young
Both parents feed young, by regurgitation. Age at first flight usually 70-85 days.
Feeding Behavior
Forages by plunging into water from flight, submerging briefly; sometimes by swooping down to surface without striking water, perhaps taking flying fish in the air. May feed most actively in early morning and late afternoon.
Diet
Mostly fish. Feeds on a wide variety of small fish, but seems to favor flying fish, which are common in tropical waters. Also eats small squid, snails, crabs.
Nesting
May nest as isolated pairs or in colonies, depending on spacing of available nest sites. Nesting season is spring and summer in Bermuda, may nest year-round at some tropical islands. Courtship displays include two birds flying gracefully in unison, one above the other, with higher bird bending tail down to touch tail of lower bird. Nest: Site is in crevice or hole in rock, on ledge, on ground under dense vegetation; in Old World tropics, may nest in hollow tree or log. Same site may be re-used for several years. No nest built, egg laid on bare ground.
Climate Vulnerability
Conservation Status
Nesting colonies in some parts of world have declined owing to human disturbance, but still widespread and common in many areas.