AIAI reconstruction created with Nano Banana 2 · 1K, grounded in the profile’s documented taxonomy, habitat, natural-history sources, and an open-license visual reference when available. It is an interpretive image, not documentary evidence. Image policy →
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White-tailed Tropicbird
Rabijunco Coliblanco
Phaethon lepturus
The white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) or yellow-billed tropicbird is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found 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".
Sound archive
Hear its voice
Explore real songs and calls. The spectrogram turns each sound into a visual trace of time and frequency.
Play: flight call by GABRIEL LEITE
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Sound recorded by GABRIEL LEITE · XC998684 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Visualization by Stichting Xeno-canto voor Natuurgeluiden.
Every recording retains the creator, catalogue number, and license published by Xeno-canto. Metadata via GBIF ↗
Island profile
About the White-tailed Tropicbird
The white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) or yellow-billed tropicbird is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found 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".
Conservation
Least Concern
IUCN LC; DNER VU
- Global IUCN
- LC
- Puerto Rico DNER
- VU
- Federal ESA
- No current listing in source crosswalk
- Critical habitat
- Not identified in source crosswalk
Natural history
How it lives
- Habitat
- Sea cliffs; offshore cays; pelagic waters
- Elevation
- 0–0 m
- Nest
- Crevice; Scrape · Ground
- Clutch
- 1–1 eggs
- Social behavior
- Colonial; Singly and pairs
Keep exploring
This bird belongs to 9 paths through the atlas.
Related in the atlas
Where to fly next
Connected by taxonomy, habitat, occurrence, and conservation.
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Evidence trail
Sources, media & further reading
Research note: Commonwealth VU in cited 2026 compilation