The white-tailed tropicbird (''Phaethon lepturus'') is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...

s of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found in the tropical

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, western Pacific and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Oceans. It also breeds on some

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the 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 ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

, where it is locally called a "longtail".

Taxonomy

Phaethon lepturus -Midway Atoll, USA -flying-8

There are six subspecies: * ''P. l. lepturus''—Indian Ocean * ''P. l. fulvus'' (golden bosun)—This form has a golden wash to the white plumage * ''P. l. dorotheae''—tropical Pacific * ''P. l. catesbyi''—

and Caribbean * ''P. l. ascensionis''—

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of ...

* ''P. l. europae''—

Europa Island Europa Island (, ), in Malagasy Nosy Ampela is a low-lying tropical atoll in the Mozambique Channel, about a third of the way from southern Madagascar to southern Mozambique. The island had never been inhabited until 1820, when the French f ...

, s. Mozambique Channel

Description

The adult white-tailed tropicbird is a slender, mainly white bird, 71–80 cm long including the very long central tail feathers, which double its total length. The wingspan is 89–96 cm. 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. It disperses widely across the oceans when not breeding, and sometimes wanders far. It feeds on fish and squid, caught by surface plunging, but this species is a poor swimmer. The call is a high screamed '. Sexes are similar, although males on average are longer tailed, but juveniles lack the tail streamers, have a green-yellow bill, and a finely barred back. The white-tailed tropicbird does not have a yearly breeding cycle; instead, breeding frequency depends on the climate and availability of suitable breeding sites. The bird can reproduce 10 months after the last successful breeding, or 5 months after an unsuccessful one.

Behavior

The white-tailed tropicbird feeds mainly on flying fish,

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fittin ...

and crabs. It catches its prey by diving from height of up to 20 meters, as do gannets. However, flying fish are caught in flight. It usually feeds in pairs. Prey is often detected by hovering above the surface as the bird swallows it before taking off. Phaethon lepturus MHNT

Conservation status

Population trends are unknown. In Mexico it is not under any category of protection, and no specific conservation programs for these tropicbirds are known. However, the species is found in various conservation programs as an American waterfowl. It is recommended to conduct studies on the biology of this species at sea, as well as monitoring of breeding colonies. Globally it is considered a species of Least Concern.

Folklore

The ancient

Chamorro people The Chamorro people (; also CHamoru) are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, sign ...

called the white-tailed tropicbird ''utak'' or ''itak'', and believed that when it screamed over a house it meant that someone would soon die or that an unmarried girl was pregnant. Its call would kill anyone who didn't believe in it. Chamorro fishermen would find schools of fish by watching them.

References

External links

Species information on P.l. catesbyi

White-tailed tropicbird videos, photos & sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Authority control Phaethontidae Birds of the Atlantic Ocean Birds of the Caribbean Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of the Indian Ocean Birds of the Pacific Ocean Birds of Ascension Island Birds of Saint Helena Island Birds described in 1802 Taxa named by François Marie Daudin Pantropical fauna