page_title: White-tailed tropicbird
section_title: Behavior
hierarchical_section_title: White-tailed tropicbird / Behavior
caption_attribution_description: Tropic Bird (Phaeton lepturus), Seychelles
context_page_description: The white-tailed tropicbird is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found in the tropical Atlantic, western Pacific and Indian Oceans. It also breeds on some Caribbean islands, and a few pairs have started nesting recently on Little Tobago, joining the red-billed tropicbird colony. In addition to the tropical Atlantic, it nests as far north as Bermuda, where it is locally called a "longtail".
context_section_description: The white-tailed tropicbird feeds mainly on flying fish, squid and crabs. It catches its prey by diving from height of up to 20 meters, as do gannets. However, flying fish are caught in flight. It usually feeds in pairs. Prey is often detected by hovering above the surface as the bird swallows it before taking off.
caption: In the Seychelles
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