Red-billed Tropicbird

Phaethon aethereus

Plunge-dives like a dart and trails two long white tail streamers behind it. A bird built entirely for drama.

Population: Roughly 3,300-13,000 mature individuals globally (regional counts include ~4,000-5,000 pairs in the western Atlantic)
Habitat: Open tropical and subtropical ocean waters; nests colonially in holes, crevices, and on ledges/bare ground of cliff faces on remote, often predator-free rocky islands and coastlines
Fun fact: The Red-billed Tropicbird was mistakenly depicted on Bermuda's $50 note before being corrected in 2012 to the White-tailed Tropicbird, the species that actually breeds there.
Range: Pantropical but patchy: breeds on islands across the tropical Atlantic (Caribbean, Cape Verde, islands off West Africa), the eastern Pacific (e.g. off Mexico/Central America, Galapagos), and the Red Sea/north-western Indian Ocean; ranges widely and pelagically over open ocean outside the breeding season
Diet: Fish (especially flying fish, typically 10-20 cm long) and squid, caught by plunge-diving from heights up to ~40 m into the water, sometimes near predatory fish or dolphins that drive prey to the surface
Size: 1 m
Wingspan: 1.02 m
Lifespan: 17.6 years

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