White-tailed Tropicbird

About the White-tailed Tropicbird

The white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) 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".

French zoologist François Marie Daudin described the white-tailed tropicbird in 1802. "White-tailed tropicbird" has been designated the official name by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC). Its closest relative is the red-tailed tropicbird (P. rubricauda), the split between their ancestors taking place about four million years ago.

Six subspecies are recognised by the IOC: P. l. lepturus: Found across the topical Indian Ocean. P. l. fulvus (golden bosun): Native to Christmas Island. This form has a golden wash to the white plumage. P. l. dorotheae: tropical western Pacific

P. l. catesbyi: Bermuda and Caribbean P... Wikipedia →