[WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD]

Phaethon lepturus

Status:  No accepted records.

Taxonomy: There are six subspecies recognized in tropical oceans, one in the Americas, catesbyi of the Caribbean (AviList 2025).

Comments: One reported flying along the South Platte River in Lincoln Co 13-14 May 1973 (Cortelyou 1973a) was later suggested to be a tern trailing a fishing line (Cortelyou 1973b). The report was considered inconclusive by Bray et al (1986).

There are no records of this species any closer to Nebraska than Atlantic Coast and nearby states (eBird.org, accessed 2023), although one was found on the Texas Gulf Coast 3 Jul 2010, rehabilitated, and released 10 Jul (eBird.org, accessed Oct 2023). There are only three records for the Gulf of Mexico, in Jun-Aug (eBird.org, accessed Jul 2025).

Literature Cited

AviList Core Team, 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025.

Bray, T.E., B.K. Padelford, and W.R. Silcock. 1986. The birds of Nebraska: A critically evaluated list. Published by the authors, Bellevue, Nebraska, USA.

Cortelyou, R.G. 1973a. 1973 (Forty-eighth) Spring Migration and Occurrence Report. NBR 41: 46-65.

Cortelyou. R.G. 1973b. More on the “White-tailed Tropicbird”. NBR 41: 79-80.

Recommended Citation

Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen.  2025.  White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org

Birds of Nebraska – Online

Updated 12 Jul 2025