White-tailed Tropicbird

Phaethon lepturus

Nests on cliff ledges, gliding in on a zigzag descent to land. Two white tail streamers double its body length.

Population: Fewer than 400,000 mature individuals (2019 est.), undergoing a moderate decline
Habitat: Pelagic — spends most of its life far out over tropical/subtropical open ocean; comes to land only to breed, nesting in rocky crevices, cliff ledges, and occasional tree forks or ground scrapes on remote oceanic islands
Fun fact: Bermudians affectionately call it the "longtail" and have installed over 1,100 artificial nest structures nicknamed "Longtail Igloos" (dome-shaped, styrofoam-based) along the coastline to help the birds outcompete introduced predators and erosion for scarce natural nesting crevices.
Range: Tropical Atlantic, western/central Pacific, and Indian Oceans; breeding colonies span the Caribbean, Bermuda (northern limit, largest Atlantic breeding population at ~2,000-3,000 pairs), Hawaii, and island groups across the Indian and Pacific Oceans
Diet: Flying fish and squid (plus some crabs), caught mainly by plunge-diving from height (up to ~20 m) or hovering just above the surface
Size: 0.76 m
Wingspan: 0.92 m
Lifespan: 16 years

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