Birds · La Saladita, Guerrero

Red-billed Tropicbird

Phaethon aethereus

Spanish: Rabijunco pico rojo

The red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) is a tropicbird, one of three closely related species of seabird of tropical oceans. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it has mostly white plumage with some black markings on the wings and back, a black mask and, as its common name suggests, a red bill. Most adults have tail streamers that are about two times their body length, with those in males being generally longer than those in females. The...

TaxonomyAves › Phaethontiformes › Phaethontidae

Local records14 research-grade observations within about 50 km of La Saladita (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones)

Global records2,392 on iNaturalist

Most recent records2020 – 2026

Months of the 8 most recent records

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Recent local sightings

2026-02-16 — observation by zihuadean
2024-12-05 — observation by tilmaturasbirding
2024-11-02 — observation by jvickers
2024-04-19 — observation by adrian_mora
2022-11-30 — observation by valog
2020-12-17 — observation by jacobyamahar6

Interactive card with more photos, sounds and similar species Birds guide iNaturalist Wikipedia

Cite as: “Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) at La Saladita”, La Saladita Field Guide, lasaladita.com/species/phaethon-aethereus/, updated 2026-09-26. Observation counts and months come from iNaturalist research-grade records within about 50 km of 17.8375°N, 101.7606°W (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones); summary text from Wikipedia where present.