Red-billed Tropicbird
Phaethon aethereus
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Tropicbirds (Phaethontidae)
- Order
- Phaethontiformes
Overview
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. The red-billed tropicbird itself has three subspecies recognized, including the nominate.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Countries
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Brazil
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Djibouti
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Eritrea
- French Guiana
- Gambia
- Guinea
- Guyana
- Iraq
- Liberia
- Maldives
- Mexico
- Myanmar
- Nigeria
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Panama
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Singapore
- Somalia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Trinidad and Tobago
- United Arab Emirates
- United States
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Yemen
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Red-billed tropicbird
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.