Red“tailed Tropicbird 
(Pjfcaethon rubricauda) 
Current Status: Breeds annually. 
OJRS 
Prior R ecords : The first record of this species 4s- a bird brought to the 
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Hawaiian Museum by the Xwalani excursion party to Nihoa of July 22, 1885 
(Hono. My., August 21, 1885 ). Munro (l94l) saw this species off Nihoa 
May 26 to 27 , 1891 * Fisher ( 1906 ) reported it on his visit August 5 to 10 
1902. Other records are Munter ( 1915 ), Wetmore ( 1923 ), Vanderbilt and J?e 
Schauensee (l94l), Kramer ( 1961 ), Kramer and Beardsley ( 1962 ). 
Population ; Munter ( op . cit .) found one nesting bird and saw several 71 in 
the air March 18 , 1915* Wetmore (o£. cit .) estimated "at least 400 pairs 
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present June 11-16, 1923* Vanderbilt and jSe Schauensee (o£. cit .) called 
them fairly common ie-August 7-15, 19^0. Only one bird was seen, flying 
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over the island, by Kramer (o£. cit .)between December 10-15, 1961 . Kramer 
and Beardsley (op* cit.) reported them as common on June 10 , 1962 . 
The POBSP v4b 4% of March 6 , 19 64 estimated 30 birds present. 4 he-trlp 
of- March 2 1 !, ec-t 4 m a= 
/*?63s F4-Y/AS& 
sjRvey PARTY 
over the island. The trAfr of 
September 23-24, 1964 estimated 25 adults present. 
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Reproduction : The R¥¥B, on Nihoa, nests in rock cavities, crevices and under 
ledges. Munter (op. cit.) saw one bird nesting >*1 March 18, 1915 , but did 
not indicate the stage of breeding. Wetmore (op. cit.) said that "at least 
400 pairs nest here" but, again, did not record stage of breeding. Vander- 
bill and Jfe Schauensee (op. cit.) found two nests with eggs and reported 
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that "most of the young were nearly full grown August 7-1-5, 1940*. Kramer 
and Beardsley (op. cit.) reported many nests with eggs, June 10 , 1962 . 
POBSP trip ojf March 6 , 1964 observed courting behavior. 4he trip of 
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March 24, 1965 cot - teatcd 400 nests with egg^. The September 23-24, 1964 
found nine large nestlings. 
