The Red-billed Tropicbird, (Phaethon aethereus), also known as the Boatswain Bird is a tropic bird, one of three closely related seabirds of tropical oceans. The Galapagos species, the red-billed tropicbird is also found in the tropical latitudes of the eastern Pacific, the Caribbean and in the Indian Ocean.
In Galapagos it is not uncommon to see Tropicbirds soaring along the cliffs where they make their nests, on islands such as South Plaza, Espanola, Genovesa and N. Seymour.
Red-billed Tropicbirds are striking birds, with a vivid, white body, black wing edges and eye stripe, red bill and two long, streaming tail feathers.
Like some of the other pelecaniformes, tropicbirds are plunge-divers, feeding on squid and fish, well out at sea. After a dive, they bob back up to the surface, sitting momentarily, with their two tail feathers cocked in an upright position.
Tropicbirds court each other with an aerial display and callings. The Red-billed Tropicbird breeds on tropical islands laying a single egg directly onto the ground or a cliff ledge. It disperses widely when not breeding and sometimes wanders far, including an amazing record from Great Britain.
A Tropicbird has recently been found in eastern Nova Scotia, Canada. Tropicbirds feed on fish and squid, but are poor swimmers.
The adult Tropicbirds is a slender mainly white bird, 48 centimetres long excluding the very long central tail feathers, which double the total length.
Their wingspan is about 1 metre and the long wings have black markings on the flight feathers. There is black through the eye. Their bill is red.
Female and male Tropicbirds are similar, although males have longer tails, however, juveniles lack the tail streamers, are greyer-backed and have a yellow bill.
Appearance and Identification
The adult Red-billed Tropicbird is a slender, predominantly white bird measuring around 48 centimetres in body length, though this figure tells only half the story. The two long central tail feathers, or streamers, effectively double the bird’s total length, and it is these that define its silhouette and give it such a distinctive and theatrical presence in the air. The wingspan reaches approximately one metre, and the long wings carry black markings on the flight feathers, complementing the black stripe running through the eye and across the face. The bill is a deep, vivid red, clean and unmistakable at close range.
Males and females are similar in appearance, though males tend to carry longer tail streamers. Juveniles are rather more subdued, lacking the tail streamers entirely, showing a greyer back and a yellow bill that will deepen to red only with maturity. A young bird seen at rest on a cliff ledge, before it has grown into its full adult splendour, is a reminder of just how much transformation lies ahead.
Flight and Movement
In the air, the Red-billed Tropicbird is a master of effortless, sweeping flight, using wind currents along cliff faces and over open ocean with an ease that speaks to a life spent almost entirely airborne or at sea. On land, however, the picture is rather different.
The legs of a Tropicbird are positioned so far back on the body that walking is awkward at best, and the birds tend to shuffle and scramble rather than stride. This is a creature built for the sky and the sea, and it makes little pretence of being otherwise. Watching one bank and glide along a cliff face in the equatorial light, tail streamers trailing behind, is one of those sights that stays with you long after you have left the islands.
Feeding and Hunting
Like other members of the Pelecaniformes, Tropicbirds are plunge-divers, folding their wings and dropping from height to take fish and squid well out at sea. After a dive, they bob back to the surface momentarily, sitting with their two tail feathers cocked upright in a posture that is both practical and rather jaunty, before taking to the air again.
Despite this accomplished hunting technique, Tropicbirds are notably poor swimmers and spend as little time on the water as possible. The bulk of their foraging takes place well offshore, away from the islands and the attention of the larger seabirds that might otherwise attempt to steal a catch.
Breeding and Nesting
The Red-billed Tropicbird breeds on tropical islands, laying a single egg directly onto the ground or onto a cliff ledge, with little or no nest material to speak of. The exposed nature of the nest site means that the timing of incubation and the attentiveness of both parents are critical to the egg’s survival. Incubation lasts around 40 to 46 days, with both adults taking turns.
The chick is brooded and fed until it is ready to fledge, at which point it makes its way to the sea with no further parental assistance. The aerial courtship that precedes breeding is a sight worth watching in its own right: pairs soaring and calling together, with the long tail streamers of the male arching through the air in a display that manages to be both acrobatic and deeply graceful.
Range and Wandering
When not breeding, the Red-billed Tropicbird disperses widely across tropical and subtropical oceans, and individuals occasionally turn up in the most unexpected locations. A remarkable record exists from Great Britain, and a bird has been found as far north as eastern Nova Scotia in Canada, a reminder that the sea offers few true boundaries to a bird of this capability.
These distant wanderers are almost certainly storm-blown or simply following prey beyond the limits of their usual range, but each record adds something to our understanding of just how far this elegant bird is willing to travel. In the Galápagos, where the species is reliably present year-round, it remains one of the more reliably spectacular rewards for anyone who takes the time to look up at the cliffs.
Sources & References
Cite This Page
APA
Joanne Spencer (2026, April 15). Galapagos Red Billed Tropic Bird. Animal Corner. Retrieved 2026, October 5, from https://animalcorner.org/animals/galapagos-red-billed-tropic-bird/
MLA
Joanne Spencer. "Galapagos Red Billed Tropic Bird." Animal Corner, 2026, April 15, https://animalcorner.org/animals/galapagos-red-billed-tropic-bird/.
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