Red-tailed Tropicbirds of Aitutaki

Red-tailed tropicbirds (Phaethon rubricauda) were photographed nesting among the low vegetation of Aitutaki’s lagoon islets in 2006. Known in the Cook Islands as tavake, these oceanic seabirds are recognizable by their predominantly white plumage, black facial markings, red bills and elongated red tail streamers. Their down-covered chicks are white with irregular black spotting.

Red-tailed tropicbirds spend most of their lives at sea, ranging across tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. They return to remote islands to breed, placing a single egg directly on the ground in a sheltered site beneath vegetation, rocks or overhanging terrain. Both parents participate in incubation and feed the chick after hatching.

The species is currently classified globally as Least Concern, but individual breeding colonies remain vulnerable to introduced predators, disturbance and habitat change. Several Cook Islands support important seabird nesting populations, particularly less-developed and protected islands such as Takūtea and Suwarrow. The photographs provide a record of active tropicbird nesting around Aitutaki in 2006.