Ascension : Conservation Weekly - Red-billed Tropic Bird
Submitted by The Islander (Conservation Office) 02.08.2007 (Article Archived on 16.08.2007)

This is a chunky, powerful bird, 48cm long (about 100cm including the central tail feathers) and with wingspan 105cm.

It is white with black near the wing tips, fine dark grey barring all over the back and two long, white, trailing tail feathers; the bill is long, strong and bright red (yellowish in juveniles) and the legs are yellowish. The range of the Red-billed Tropicbird includes the warm parts of the eastern Pacific, Caribbean, Atlantic and northern Indian Ocean; in other parts of the tropical oceans it is replaced by its close relative Red Tailed Tropicbird. P.rubricauda. At sea the flight is strong and direct, with rapid wing beats resembling a pigeon, but when seen from land the birds are generally making repeated hesitant approaches to nest sites; one can sometimes watch courtship flight where several birds alternate rapid flapping and dramatic glides, accompanied by chuckles and screams. Like all tropics this species feeds on fish and squid by hovering and then plunging vertically into the sea, usually far from land. The nests are in holes and crevices, and fighting for these-sometimes to the death- is common in places where they are in short supply. The single egg is fawn to rich purple brown and averages 65 X 45mm, incubation lasts about 43 days. Both parents incubate, sometimes taking shifts of several days. The birds spend the non-breeding season far out to sea, undergoing a complete moult before returning to land.

 - Prepared by Natasha Williams, Conservation Office Assistant.