BirdUp · Species
White-tailed Tropicbird
Phaethon lepturusDaudin, 1802
Updated
- Order
- PHAETHONTIFORMES
- Family
- Phaethontidae
- Genus
- Phaethon
At a glance
The White-tailed Tropicbird is a very large bird, about 70–90 cm long, listed as Least Concern and native to Australia. It can be seen year-round.
- Size
- 70–90 cm
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
- Origin
- Native
- Best seen
- Year-round
- Commonness
- Very common
01 · Identification
How to tell it apart
What does a White-tailed Tropicbird look like?
The White-tailed Tropicbird is a very large bird, about 70–90 cm long and weighing 220–410 g.
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".
Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
03 · When
When to look
When can you see a White-tailed Tropicbird?
The White-tailed Tropicbird is present across its Australian range year-round, so it can be seen in any month.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
05 · Behaviour
Habits and haunts
What does a White-tailed Tropicbird eat?
The White-tailed Tropicbird feeds on fish/invertebrates, usually foraging alone.
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