Red-billed tropicbird

Red-billed tropicbird
P. a. mesonauta, Little Tobago
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Phaethontidae
Genus:	Phaethon
Species:	P. aethereus
Binomial name
Phaethon aethereus Linnaeus, 1758

The red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus), also known as the boatswain bird is a tropicbird, one of three closely related seabirds of tropical oceans.

Distribution and habitat

The red-billed tropicbird occurs in the tropical Atlantic, eastern Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Indian Ocean race, P. a. indicus, was at one time considered a full species, the lesser red-billed tropicbird from Pakistan and western India. It breeds on tropical islands laying a single egg directly onto the ground or a cliff ledge. Breeding in the Western Palaearctic occurs on the Cape Verde Islands and attempted breeding on the Îles des Madeleines off Senegal. Total numbers in 2000 were probably less than 150 pairs.

It disperses widely when not breeding, and sometimes wanders far, including five records from Great Britain. In July 2005, one was found in eastern New Brunswick, Canada, and another sighting at Matinicus Rock, Maine. There was confirmed sighting on Lord Howe Island near Australia in November 2010.

Description

The adult is a slender, mainly white bird, 48 cm long, excluding the central tail feathers which double the total length, and a one-metre wingspan. The long wings have black markings on the flight feathers. There is black through the eye. The bill is red. Sexes are similar, although males average longer tails. Juveniles lack the tail streamers, are greyer-backed, and have a yellow bill. P. a. indicus has a reduced black eye stripe, and a more orange-tinted bill.Its wind are made up of very large feather coat. They feed on fish and squid, but are poor swimmers.

• Red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus mesonauta) chick.jpg

  P. a. mesonauta, chick Little Tobago

• Red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus mesonauta) nesting.jpg

  P. a. mesonauta, nesting, Little Tobago

• Red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus mesonauta) in flight.jpg

  P. a. mesonauta, in flight, Little Tobago

• Red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus mesonauta) landing.jpg

  P. a. mesonauta, typical clumsy landing, Little Tobago

• 

  North Seymour Island, Galapagos Islands

• PhaethonIndicusSmit.jpg

  P. a. indicus; illustration by Joseph Smit, 1898

Depiction on banknote

The red-billed tropicbird was featured in error on the $50 Bermudian dollar and was replaced in 2012 by the white-tailed tropicbird.

Further reading

• Snow, D.W. (1965). The breeding of the Red-billed Tropicbird in the Galapagos Islands. Condor 67(3): 210-214.
• Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
• Seabirds: An Identification Guide by Harrison, Peter ISBN 0-7470-1410-8

External links

• Red-billed Tropicbird BirdLife International