Adults: General plumage white with black stripes through eye, through innermost flight feathers and on flanks. Rosey sheen of varying intensity on body plumage. Two long, red central tail feathers having black shafts. Eye, dark brown. Bill, red with black line along nostrils. Feet, pale blue. Webbing and toes, black.
Immatures: General plumage white with black stripes through eye, through innermost flight feathers and on flanks. Black bars on upper parts. Rosey sheen of varying intensity on body plumage. No streamers. Eye, dark brown. Bill, red with black line along nostrils. Feet, pale blue. Webbing and toes, black.
Downy Young: Silky grey-fawn after hatching. Bill, black. Feet, black.
Other Names (World)
Red-tailed Tropicbird, Red-tailed Bos'n-bird, Silver Bosun-bird, Strawtail
Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) [XC537025]
by Ron Overholtz from Nosy Ve, Madagascar (call, flight call)
Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) [XC537024]
by Dries Van de Loock from Nosy Ve, Madagascar (call, hatchling or nestling)
Nest
A depression in the ground, sheltered by a bush or rock. Sometimes on a ledge or in a crevice of a rocky cliff.
Eggs (Guide)
1; dull white or pinkish-red, almost obscured by minute marks of pinkish-red to blackish-brown; long-oval; 64 x 45 – 68 x 47 mm. Incubation: 42 – 50 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 4 – 5 weeks.
Subspecies
Four subspecies based on measurements of wing and bill and intensity of pink-suffusion on plumage. Birds of central Pacific sometimes placed in separate subspecies rothschildi.
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