Adult in flight – Cook Islands, Takūtea – Gerald McCormack
Gerald McCormack, CINHT
The Red-tailed Tropicbird (Tavake Phaethon rubricauda) is a snow-white seabird with a red bill and slender red tail. It nests during the winter months in moderate numbers on the cliffs behind Avarua and is often seen flying over the island. It has a raucous call and performs dramatic loop-the-loop courtship displays. The largest Cook Islands colonies are on Takutea (near Atiu), Suwarrow, and Palmerston and a small population on Mā’ina-iti, Aitutaki.
It is a rare nester on most peopled-atolls because it is a favourite traditional food and domestic dogs often disturb the nests. Palmerston is an interesting exception because the tropicbird remains common despite more than a hundred years of harvesting. The secret of its survival has been that Palmerston islanders harvest the “mature” nestlings only every 28th day, and enough fledge between harvests to maintain the colony.
