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Red-billed Tropicbird

A species of Tropicbirds
Scientific name : Phaethon aethereus Genus : Tropicbirds

Red-billed Tropicbird, A species of Tropicbirds
Botanical name: Phaethon aethereus
Genus: Tropicbirds
Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) Photo By Joseph C Boone , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original

Description

The red-billed tropicbird measures 90 to 105 cm (35 to 41 in) on average, which includes the 46 to 56 cm (18 to 22 in)-long tail streamers. Without them the tropicbird measures about 48 cm (19 in). It has a wingspan of 99 to 106 cm (39 to 42 in). In overall appearance it is tern-like in shape. Its plumage is white, with black wing tips, and a back that is finely barred in black. It has a black mask that extends up from just above the lores to the sides of its nape, with gray mottling usually seen near the nape and hindneck. The tail has black shaft streaks, as do tail streamers. The underparts are white, with some black on the outermost primaries and tertials and occasionally with black markings on the flanks. The iris is blackish-brown, and the bill is red. The legs, base of the central toe, and parts of the outer toes are orange-yellow while the rest of the feet are black. Although the sexes are similar, the males are generally larger than females, with the tail streamers being around 12 cm (4.7 in) longer on the male than on the female. The subspecies of this bird can usually be distinguished by their difference in size and plumage. The subspecies Phaethon aethereus mesonauta can be differentiated by its slightly rosy tinge when its plumage is fresh, the bolder look of the black barring on the upper wing, and the more solid look of the black on the outer wing. The subspecies P. a. indicus can be distinguished by its smaller size, its smaller mask on the face, which often does not extend far behind the eye, and its more orange bill with a black cutting edge. When the chicks hatch, they are covered with gray down. This down is eventually cleared in about 40 to 50 days. The young chicks lack tail streamers. The juvenile looks similar to the adult with a mostly white crown. In the juvenile, the stripes above the eye usually are connected at the nape. The tail feathers usually have black tips or subterminal dots and without the tail streamers that are distinctive on the adult. Occasionally, a juvenile will have black markings on its flanks and under tail coverts. The red-billed tropicbird can be differentiated from the other tropicbirds by its red bill in combination with its white tail streamers. The slightly smaller red-tailed tropicbird has red rather than white tail streamers, and the white-tailed tropicbird can be differentiated by its smaller size, black stripe along its upper wing coverts, and its yellow-orange bill. Juvenile red-billed tropicbirds have more heavily barred upper parts than juveniles of other species. In flight, the royal tern can be confused with the adult red-billed tropicbird but can be distinguished by the former's less direct flight pattern and its lack of tail streamers. This tropicbird moults once every year as an adult, following a complex basic strategy. This prebasic moult is completed before courtship and lasts between 19 and 29 weeks, with most being completed in 24 weeks. Birds gain their adult plumage at two to three years of age. The red-billed tropicbird usually only calls near breeding colonies, where it joins in with groups of other adults, numbering from 2 to 20, in circling above the sea and making loud, harsh kreeeee-kreeeee-kri-kri-kri-kr screams. If disturbed at the nest, the chicks will vocalize a loud and piercing shriek, either rasping or reeling.
Size
46-102 cm (18-40 in)
Life Expectancy
10 years
Nest Placement
Ground
Feeding Habits
Red-billed Tropicbird primarily eats small fish and squid, diving from air or nabbing flying fish mid-flight. Solitary foragers, they dive up to 40m, following surface feeders like dolphins to catch prey brought to the surface or airborne by predators.
Habitat
Red-billed Tropicbird is a pelagic bird that primarily frequents tropical and subtropical seas. Its habitat spans across broad geographical expanses, from the tropical Atlantic to the eastern Pacific and Indian Oceans. This species has a penchant for small, remote oceanic islands where it breeds, often choosing cliffs or locations that allow for easy take-off. In the breeding season, red-billed Tropicbird selects inaccessible spots on cliffs to ensure safety and ease of access for flight. Outside the breeding period, red-billed Tropicbird can be found dispersing widely over the oceans, occasionally reaching more temperate zones.
Dite type
Piscivorous

General Info

Feeding Habits

Bird food type

Behavior

The red-billed tropicbird can reach speeds of 44 kilometers per hour (27 mph) when flying out at sea, cruising a minimum of 30 meters (100 ft) above the sea. It cannot stand and is not proficient at walking, and requires an unobstructed takeoff to fly from land. Conversely it can lift off the sea without much effort. Its plumage is waterproof and it floats on water.

Distribution Area

The red-billed tropicbird has the smallest range of the three tropicbird species, yet it still ranges across the Neotropics, as well as the tropical Atlantic, eastern Pacific, and Indian oceans. The nominate subspecies Phaethon aethereus aethereus breeds on islands in the Atlantic south of the equator, including Ascension, and Saint Helena on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and Fernando de Noronha and Abrolhos Archipelago in Brazilian waters. It is a vagrant to the coastline of Namibia and South Africa. The subspecies P. a. mesonauta is found in the east Atlantic, the east Pacific, and in the Caribbean. This subspecies was restricted to the Cape Verde Islands in the eastern Atlantic but it has colonised the Canary Islands in the 21st century, especially Fuerteventura but also on other islands in that archipelago. The Indian Ocean subspecies, P. a. indicus is found in waters off Pakistan, western India, southwestern Sri Lanka, the Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula. The subspecies is also a rare but regular vagrant to Seychelles. Within the West Indies, this species is most common in the Lesser Antilles, Virgin Islands and small islands east of Puerto Rico. Breeding in the Western Palearctic occurs on the Cape Verde Islands and the Îles des Madeleines off Senegal. In 2000, the total number of pairs there was probably less than 150. In the Pacific Ocean, it breeds from the Gulf of California and Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico in the north, to the Galápagos Islands, Isla Plata, Ecuador and San Lorenzo Island, Peru. Researchers Larry Spear and David Ainley estimated the minimum population of the Pacific at around 15,750 birds in 1995 after 15 years of field observations. Red-billed tropicbirds disperse widely when not breeding, the juveniles more so than the adults, with birds in the Pacific reaching the 45th parallel north off Washington State and 32nd parallel south off Chile, with 19 records as of 2007 from Hawaii—some 4,300 kilometers (2,700 mi) from Mexico. It sometimes wanders further, including five records from Great Britain, and two from Australia: October–December 2010 on Lord Howe Island and September 2014 on Ashmore Reef. In July 2005, one was found in eastern New Brunswick, Canada, while another has been seen at Matinicus Rock, Maine regularly since 2000.

Species Status

Not globally threatened.
Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) Photo By Joseph C Boone , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original

Scientific Classification

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