LC
Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus



Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2019 Least Concern
2018 Least Concern
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status not a migrant Forest dependency does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type Average mass -
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 136,000,000 km2 medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding) 86,300,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size 16000 - 30000 mature individuals medium suspected 2019
Population trend decreasing - suspected -
Generation length 10.1 years - - -

Population justification: The largest colonies with several thousand pairs are found on the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador) and in the Caribbean (del Hoyo et al. 1992, Orta et al. 2019), followed by approximately 1,000 pairs along the Pacific coast of Mexico (Hernández-Vázquez et al. 2018, Piña-Ortiz et al. 2018). The population in the southern Atlantic Ocean numbers less than 3,000 pairs, and those on Cape Verde and around the Arabian Peninsula contain a few hundred pairs (del Hoyo et al. 1992, Orta et al. 2019). The population size is therefore preliminarily estimated at 8,000-15,000 pairs, equating to 16,000-30,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The species’s current population trend is not very clear. It is suspected to be undergoing a decline, mainly due to the severe consequences of predation by cats and rats. So far, however, this threat was assumed to only affect a minority of the global population. New evidence suggests that predation is particularly severe in Caribbean breeding colonies, where a large part of the global population occurs (B. Denneman in litt. 2014, Orta et al. 2019). Unfortunately, in most cases, there is not much information available about the decline. For some breeding colonies, we know the direction of the population change, but have no data on its intensity or rate. For many other colonies, we have no information about the trend. The current trend in most of the colonies is thus unknown. Whilst it is therefore not possible to confidently determine the overall population trend for this species, it is precautionarily suspected to be undergoing a small decline.


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Angola extant vagrant
Anguilla (to UK) extant native
Antigua and Barbuda extant native
Bahamas extant native
Bahrain extant uncertain
Barbados extant native
Belize extant uncertain
Benin extant uncertain
Bermuda (to UK) extant vagrant
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (to Netherlands) extant native
Brazil extant native
Cameroon extant uncertain
Cape Verde extant native yes
Cayman Islands (to UK) extant native
Chile extant native
China (mainland) extant native yes
Colombia extant native
Congo extant uncertain
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the extant uncertain
Costa Rica extant vagrant
Côte d'Ivoire extant uncertain
Cuba extant native
Curaçao (to Netherlands) extant native
Djibouti extant native
Dominica extant native
Dominican Republic extant native
Ecuador extant native
Egypt extant native
El Salvador extant native
Equatorial Guinea extant uncertain
Eritrea extant native
French Guiana extant native
French Polynesia extant vagrant
Gabon extant vagrant
Gambia extant vagrant
Ghana extant uncertain
Grenada extant native yes
Guadeloupe (to France) extant native
Guatemala extant uncertain
Guinea extant native
Guinea-Bissau extant native
Guyana extant uncertain
Haiti extant native
Honduras extant uncertain
India extant vagrant
Iran, Islamic Republic of extant native yes
Iraq extant uncertain
Israel extant vagrant
Jamaica extant vagrant
Jordan extant vagrant
Kuwait extant vagrant yes
Liberia extant uncertain
Madagascar extant vagrant
Malaysia extant vagrant
Maldives extant native
Martinique (to France) extant native
Mauritania extant vagrant
Mexico extant native
Montserrat (to UK) extant native
Myanmar extant vagrant
Netherlands extant vagrant
Nicaragua extant uncertain
Nigeria extant uncertain
Oman extant native yes
Pakistan extant native
Panama extant native
Peru extant native
Portugal extant native yes
Puerto Rico (to USA) extant native
Qatar extant native yes
São Tomé e Príncipe extant uncertain
Saudi Arabia extant native yes
Senegal extant native yes
Seychelles extant vagrant
Sint Maarten (to Netherlands) extant native
Somalia extant native
South Africa extant vagrant
Spain extant vagrant
Sri Lanka extant vagrant
St Helena (to UK) extant native yes
St Kitts and Nevis extant native
St Lucia extant native
St Martin (to France) extant native
St Vincent and the Grenadines extant native
Sudan extant vagrant yes
Suriname extant uncertain
Togo extant uncertain
Trinidad and Tobago extant native
Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK) extant native
United Arab Emirates extant native yes
United Kingdom extant vagrant
USA extant vagrant
Venezuela extant native
Vietnam extant vagrant
Virgin Islands (to UK) extant native yes
Virgin Islands (to USA) extant native yes
Western Sahara extant uncertain
Yemen extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name
Anguilla (to UK) Dog Island
Anguilla (to UK) Prickly Pear (East and West)
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (to Netherlands) Boven, Sint Eustatius
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (to Netherlands) Saba
Cape Verde Coastal cliffs between Porto Mosquito and Baia do Inferno
Cape Verde Coastal cliffs between Porto Mosquito and Baia do Inferno - Marine
Cape Verde Ilhéus do Rombo
Cape Verde Ponta do Sol Natural Reserve
Cape Verde Raso / São Nicolau - marine
Cape Verde Raso Islet Integral Natural Reserve
Cape Verde Serra Negra
Ecuador Áreas costeras de Fernandina y del occidente de Isabela
Ecuador Isla Española
Ecuador Isla Floreana
Ecuador Isla San Cristóbal
Guadeloupe (to France) Falaises du Nord Grande-Terre
Guadeloupe (to France) Falaises Nord et Îlet de Vieux-Fort de Marie-Galante
Guadeloupe (to France) Pointe des Châteaux
Mexico Islas Revillagigedo
Oman Halaaniyaat Islands
Oman Khor Mughsayl
Oman Musandam islands
Senegal Parc National des Iles de la Madeleine
St Helena (to UK) Boatswainbird Island
St Helena (to UK) Great Stone Top and Shore Island
St Helena (to UK) Ladder Hill
St Lucia Iyanola and Grande Anses, Esperance and Fond D'ors
St Lucia Point Sables
St Martin (to France) Tintamarre
Trinidad and Tobago Little Tobago Island
Trinidad and Tobago St Giles Islands
United Arab Emirates Qarnain Island
Virgin Islands (to USA) North-west Cays
Yemen Abd al-Kuri (Socotra)
Yemen Darsa
Yemen Falang - Momi coast and cliffs (Socotra)
Yemen Islands north of Al-Hudaydah
Yemen Jaza'ir al-Hanish
Yemen Kal Farun (Socotra)
Yemen Sabuniya (Socotra)
Yemen Samha

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Marine Coastal/Supratidal Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands major breeding
Marine Neritic Macroalgal/Kelp major breeding
Marine Neritic Macroalgal/Kelp major non-breeding
Marine Neritic Pelagic major breeding
Marine Neritic Pelagic major non-breeding
Marine Neritic Seagrass (Submerged) major breeding
Marine Neritic Seagrass (Submerged) major non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel major breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel major non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs major breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs major non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Sandy major breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Sandy major non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Sandy-Mud major breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Sandy-Mud major non-breeding
Marine Oceanic Epipelagic (0-200m) major breeding
Marine Oceanic Epipelagic (0-200m) major non-breeding
Marine Oceanic Mesopelagic (200-1000m) major breeding
Marine Oceanic Mesopelagic (200-1000m) major non-breeding
Altitude   Occasional altitudinal limits  

Threats & impact
Threat (level 1) Threat (level 2) Impact and Stresses
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Rattus norvegicus Timing Scope Severity Impact
Ongoing Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant Declines Low Impact: 5
Stresses
Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Rattus rattus Timing Scope Severity Impact
Ongoing Minority (<50%) Slow, Significant Declines Low Impact: 5
Stresses
Reduced reproductive success
Residential & commercial development Housing & urban areas Timing Scope Severity Impact
Ongoing Minority (<50%) Negligible declines Low Impact: 4
Stresses
Ecosystem degradation

Utilisation
Purpose Scale
Food - human subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/red-billed-tropicbird-phaethon-aethereus on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.