Adults: General plumage white with black stripe through eye. Black line from upper wing to inner secondaries and scapulars, and on outer flight feathers. Two long, white or yellow central tail feathers having black shafts. Thighs streaked black. Some birds have golden yellow sheen on body plumage. Eye, dark brown. Bill, greenish-yellow to orange. Fett and soles, white tinged with blue. Webbing and toes, black.
Immatures: General plumage white with black stripe through eye. Black line from upper wing to inner secondaries and scapulars, and on outer flight feathers. Thin black bars on upper parts. Thighs streaked black. Some birds have golden yellow sheen on body plumage. Eye, dark brown. Bill, greenish-yellow to orange. Fett and soles, white tinged with blue. Webbing and toes, black.
Downy Young: Silky grey-fawn after hatching. Bill, black. Feet, black.
Other Names (World)
White-tailed Tropicbird, Golden Bos'n-bird, White-tailed Bos'n-bird, Yellow-billed Tropicbird, Longtail, Marlin-spike
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda (B), Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory (B), Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China (mainland), Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands (B), Colombia, Comoros, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, French Polynesia, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam (NB), Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Jamaica (B), Japan, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives (B), Marshall Islands (B), Martinique, Mauritius (B), Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia [Federated States of] (B), Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands (B), Palau (B), Panama, Philippines, Puerto Rico (B), Réunion (B), Sâo Tomé e Principe, Seychelles (B), Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St Helena (B), St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Taiwan (China), Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands (B), United States Minor Outlying Islands (B), USA (NB), Vanuatu, Virgin Islands (British) (B), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (B), Wallis and Futuna Islands (B).
Vagrant to Angola, Ghana, Liberia, New Zealand, Timor-Leste.
Tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. Does not breed in Australian waters, but at Christmas, Keeling and Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean and Walpole Island south-east of New Caledonia. Recorded regularly in the Coral Sea, Vagrant to the eastern coast of Australia, south to Batemans bay, NSW.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) [XC506355]
by Simon Elliott from S shore Aride Is., Seychelles (alarm call)
White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) [XC337746]
by Ross Gallardy from Pagu\u00e9, Pr\u00edncipe (at the Belo Monte viewpoint above Banana beach), Sao Tome (flight call)
Nest
A depression in sand on the floor of a crevice in a rocky cliff.
Eggs (Guide)
1; buff, with purplish-brown markings; round or oblong-oval; 50 x 36 mm. Incubation: about 41 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 70 - 105 days.
Subspecies
Three subspecies in Australia: one white from Cocos – Keeling Islands and another golden-toned from Chrstmas Island wanders to the north-west coast. The third wanders to north-east coast from its breeding grounds in the Central Pacific.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
lepturus Daudin, 1802 - Indian Ocean.
fulvus von Brandt, JF, 1838 - Christmas I (Indian Ocean).
dorotheae Mathews, 1913 - Western Pacific.
catesbyi von Brandt, JF, 1838 - Caribbean.
ascensionis (Mathews, 1915) - Southern and central Atlantic.
europae Le Corre & Jouventin, 1999 - Europa I. (southern Mozambique Channel).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet