White-tailed Tropicbird

Phaethon lepturus

Least Concern (IUCN Red List)Tropicbirds
White-tailed Tropicbird, photographed by Robin Gwen Agarwal

Photo: Robin Gwen Agarwal · iNaturalist · CC-BY-NC 4.0 (licence)

Call and song

About the White-tailed Tropicbird

A medium-sized white seabird with black marks on the wings and a yellow beak. The long white tail streamers are visible from a great distance. Nests on coastal and inland cliffs on the main islands. Often seen flying over canyons and along cliffs. At sea usually flies high above the water. Calls are loud clucks and squawks. Smaller and more graceful in flight than Red-tailed Tropicbird.

Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made

Where it has been recorded

Recorded in 102 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.