White-tailed Tropicbird

Scientific name: Phaethon lepturus

Seabirds

Family phaethontidae

Phenology Mainland
Absent
Phenology Madeira
Absent
Phenology Azores
Vagrant
IUCN Global Status
LC
Mainland Conservation Status
NA
Madeira Conservation Status
NA
Azores Conservation Status
NA
Species illustration

Presentation

The White-tailed Tropicbird breeds in tropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans (del Hoyo et al. 1992). It is a resident and dispersive species, and both adults and juveniles are capable of undertaking long-distance journeys in pelagic environments (del Hoyo et al. 1992). In Portugal, the species occurs as a vagrant to the Azores archipelago, with no records known for the Madeira archipelago or for Mainland waters. In Azorean waters, several individuals have been detected in recent years, the majority being solitary juveniles, between August and October (Birding Azores 2014). In the marine censuses carried out as part of this atlas, only one record of this species was made in Portuguese waters, corresponding to a single individual at the western limit of the Azorean waters of the EEZ, in late October.