Red-billed Tropicbird

How to identify

Field marks

1. Bill usually red, orange-tinged in some subspecies
2. White feathers, black wingtips and fine black barring on the back
3. Black mask may extend to the sides of the nape

Male, female and young

Sexes similar; the male is usually larger, with tail streamers about 12 cm longer than the female's; juveniles lack streamers and have a mostly white crown.

Voice

A loud, grating “kreeeee-kreeeee-kri-kri-kri-kr”, usually given only near breeding sites.

Similar species

Red-tailed Tropicbird

Red-tailed Tropicbird is slightly smaller, with red rather than white tail streamers.

White-tailed Tropicbird

White-tailed Tropicbird is smaller, with black stripes on the upperwing coverts and a yellow-orange bill.

Where and when it's recorded

Most records: Trinidad & Tobago, Ecuador, St. Martin

Red-billed Tropicbird has been recorded at 127 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 39 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Española – Punta SuárezEcuador1,231 records
2. Little Tobago IslandTrinidad & Tobago1,181 records
3. North Curve - TintamarreSt. Martin504 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Trinidad & TobagoEcuadorSt. MartinMontserratGuadeloupeSt. HelenaCape VerdeAntigua & Barbuda

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) is a tropicbird, one of three closely related species of seabird of tropical oceans. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it has mostly white plumage with some black markings on the wings and back, a black mask and, as its common name suggests, a red bill. Most adults have tail streamers that are about two times their body length, with those in males being generally longer than those in females.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions