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Phaethon rubricauda

Tavake

Red-tailed Tropicbird

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult in flight	36KB
Image:	Adults and nestling in nest	86KB
Image:	Adult showing black on wing feathers	129KB
Sound:	Calls (1) (McPherson coll.)	684KB
Sound:	Calls (2) (McPherson coll.)	684KB
Image:	Similar species: illustration, Tavake & Räkoa	54KB
Article:	The Status of Cook Islands Birds - 1996 Gerald McCormack, September 2005	Read

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Red-tailed Tropicbird, Bo'sun-bird [derived from Boatswain's-bird, because th tail feathers resemble the marlinspike carried by the Boatswain on sailing ships], Marlinspike-bird; German Rotschwanz-Tropikvogel

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tavake (RR MG AT MK MT AK TS TW MH RK), Bosun Bird / Tavake (PL), Tavake Toto (PK NS); COMMENT: Palmerston - the 1949 Laws use "bosun birds", while the early sailors name is usually Bo'sun-birds a slang for Boatswain's-bird, because the bird has the marlin-spike of the Boatswain in its tail.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Indian Ocean - Pacific Ocean (on islands)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Resident Breeder; Marine, pelagic, nest on Land

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Locally endangeredFood

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++	+	+V	+V	+V	+	++++	++++	++

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
++	++	?	++	?	++++

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Phaethon rubricauda (Boddaert, 1783)
SYNONYMS: Phaeton rubricauda Boddaert, 1783; Phaëthon rubricauda (Boddaert, 1783)

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); TETRAPODA; AVES; NEORNITHES; Pelecaniformes; PHAETHONTIDAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
BIODIVERSITY: Locally endangered. Comment: NBSAP - Mitiaro (9 of 10 wild animals)
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Food

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Phaethon rubricauda.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM03b

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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