Summer intern, Cassandra Roberts, holding the fourth Longtail chick BAMZ has received this year

Every year the staff at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo [BAMZ] rehabilitate and release a number of White-tailed Tropicbirds, which are almost always known in Bermuda as the 'Longtail' because of its distinctive tail feathers. Adult Longtails do not handle captivity very well, so the birds are typically cared for and released within a few days.

Longtails are relatively large birds; adults can measure up to 30 inches (76cm) including the tail feathers, with wingspans up to 3ft (1m). The feathers are mostly white, with diagonal black bars across each wing. The distinctive tail is composed of two extremely long feathers, surrounded by other short ones.

Adult Longtail that was found with Chick 2. It was released the following day.

Longtails first arrive in Bermuda between late February and the end of March and pairs of birds can be seen in aerial courtship throughout April. At the end of April and beginning of May a single egg is laid in the nest cavity. The egg is incubated in turn by both parents for 42 days with most hatching in June or July. The parents return to the nest over the course of the summer with squid and small fish for the growing chick. The chicks fledge (grow flight feathers) and depart in late August and September when the parents stop bringing it food.

However, so far this year, BAMZ has received 4 Longtail chicks! Two of the chicks, upon arrival at facility, didn't even have their eyes opened, which meant they were about a week old. According to Patrick Talbot, the Curator of BAMZ, this situation is highly unusual and the first time BAMZ has ever cared for multiple chicks of this age. It is additionally curious as to the circumstances surrounding each chick's discovery:

1. Chick one was found on the Reefs beach and was only a week old; luckily for this little guy he was discovered before the sun or surf claimed him. Chicks at this age are highly susceptible to the elements.
2. Chick two was discovered on Horseshoe Bay, but the puzzling part of his story is that he was found in the company of an adult bird. Normally if a chick is blown from his nest, the adults abandon them. Both adult and chick were brought to BAMZ, and while we are still rehabilitating the chick, the adult was released the following day.
3. Chick three was the luckiest of the bunch. He was discovered one evening in the middle of the road. Had his rescuer not been looking right at the little cotton-ball guy, he might have driven right past him. This chick was also delivered with his eyes still closed.

Chick four was rescued from a more expected location, which was on the rocks near Shelly Bay beach.

The growth of the Longtail chicks

All four of the chicks will remain at BAMZ for the first 2 months of their lives, and then they will be released.

If you happen to find an injured or abandoned Longtail, adult or chick, please be sure to deliver them to BAMZ or contact us (293-2727) and we will come and rescue them!

If you would like to learn more about White-tailed Tropicbirds, please visit the Department of Environment and Natural Resources page.