Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda: five nesting seasons, 2020-2025, on Rottnest Island, Western Australia
| Posted: |
29/05/2025 |
| Author(s): |
Suzanne Mather |
The Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda has nested on Rottnest Island, off Fremantle, Western
Australia, on five consecutive nesting seasons since 2020. It is unusual to have this tropical seabird nesting at this latitude of 32º S. An earlier southern breeding colony on Sugarloaf Rock failed in 2001, as did the nesting attempt on Rottnest Island in 1959. During recent nesting on Rottnest, one pair successfully fledged a chick in the first three and the fifth seasons. Nesting and re-nesting failed in the fourth and fifth season. Successful breeding occurred again in 2024-25. The successful breeding pair used the same nest site each year. From eight nesting attempts at two nests, four birds fledged and four attempts failed, with an average of 45 days incubation and 78.5 fledging days. Intermittent observations
during the first three seasons provided the basis for deployment of a remote camera and more intensive monitoring in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. The results provide information on the timing of nesting, incubation, fledging, adult nest visits and predation at this southern latitude breeding site.
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