White-tailed tropicbird - Birds Around The World

Monday, 2 July 2018

White-tailed tropicbird

                                   

                     White-tailed tropicbird 


The white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) is a tropicbird, smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It occurs in the tropical Atlantic, western Pacific and Indian Oceans. It also breeds on some Caribbean islands, and a few pairs have started nesting recently on Little Tobago, joining the red-billed tropicbird colony. In addition to the tropical Atlantic, it nests as far north as Bermuda, where it is locally called a "longtail".




White-tailed tropicbird feeds mainly on flying fishsquid and crabs. It catches its preys by diving from height of up to 20 meters, as gannets. However, flying fish is caught in flight. It usually feeds sometimes in pairs. Prey is often detected by hovering above the surface as the bird swallows it before to take off




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