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MarineCavity nestLarge · 328 g
ID tip
The adult white-tailed tropicbird is a slender, mainly white bird, 71–80 cm (28–31 in) long including the very long central tail feathers, which double its total length. The wingspan is 89–96 cm (35–38 in). The bird has a black band on the inner wing, a black eye-mask, and an orange-yellow to orange-red bill. The bill colour, pure white back and black wing bar distinguish this species from the red-billed tropicbird. The white-tailed tropicbird breeds on tropical islands, laying a single egg directly onto the ground or a cliff ledge.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the White-tailed Tropicbird
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is March, the month with the most records.
Where to see the White-tailed Tropicbird
The map shades 63 countries with regular records, and 14 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Taiwan, India, Colombia, Portugal, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Hong Kong SAR China, Tanzania, Venezuela, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Belize, Guyana.
About the White-tailed Tropicbird
The white-tailed tropicbird or yellow-billed tropicbird is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found in the tropical Atlantic, western Pacific and Indian Oceans. It also breeds on some Caribbean islands, and a few pairs have started nesting recently on Little Tobago, joining the red-billed tropicbird colony. In addition to the tropical Atlantic, it nests as far north as Bermuda, where it is locally called a "longtail".
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Red-billed TropicbirdPhaethon aethereusThe 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.
Red-tailed TropicbirdPhaethon rubricaudaThe red-tailed tropicbird measures 95 to 104 cm (37 to 41 in) on average, which includes the 35 cm (14 in) tail streamers, and weighs around 800 g (30 oz).
Side by side: Red-billed Tropicbird vs White-tailed Tropicbird · Red-tailed Tropicbird vs White-tailed Tropicbird
Watch the White-tailed Tropicbird on live cams
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