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Species · accepted · checked 2026-08-05

Phaethon rubricauda

Red-Tailed Tropicbird

WoRMS 212595ITIS 174679key itis:174679
i

2026-08-05: worms_id 212595 via WoRMS TSN crosswalk (status accepted)

Silhouette · T. Michael Keesey · CC BY 3.0 · PhyloPic, drawn from Phaethon rubricauda
Red-Tailed Tropicbird78 cm
bongo net ring71 cm

max · sealifebase

Photograph of Phaethon rubricauda
Photo · Duncan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · inat

The red-tailed tropicbird is a seabird native to tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. One of three closely related species of tropicbird (Phaethontidae), it was described by Pieter Boddaert in 1783.W CalCOFI holds 52 observations of it in 1 dataset between 1987 and 2016.R

52
observations
52
records
52
sampling events
1987–2016
years
1
datasets

Observed in
i

One row per dataset, one cell per year, darker with more observations — the same strip the front door draws per dataset. Each row ends with the name that dataset uses (dataset_taxon); the accepted name is written once, in the title above. A quiet pill marks a name the authority does not accept.

  • Seabirds & Marine Mammals 52 obs · 52 events · 1987–2016
    name used: Pheathon rubricauda Red-Tailed Tropicbird · code RTTR synonym

How big is it
i

Every mark is a measured length with its own source — hover one to read it. The reference objects are _data/size_reference.csv: two of them, the 505 µm bongo mesh and the net's ring, are CalCOFI's own sampling gear.

Groups

calcofi:seabirds

Ways in
i

Read from taxa.json of release v2026.09.11, written at release by calcofi4db::build_taxa_catalog(). The catalog's index is /species/.

Explorerdb-query
ERDDAPCalCOFI's own server, the Seabirds & Marine Mammals table constrained to this taxon
https://erddap.calcofi.io/erddap/tabledap/farallon_bird-mammal.html?&taxon_key=%22itis:174679%22