Rising Tide Images
Incubating Cliffside
Spending most of their life at sea, red-tailed tropicbirds, or koa’e ‘ula, return to land only to nest. Agile in the air and in the water, they are awkward on land with short legs behind their center of mass. Nests are simple scrapes in holes and overhangs of shoreline cliffs, carefully selected to be out of reach of terrestrial predators. The nest site landing in the vertical volcanic escarpment is challenging and may take several attempts. Paired adult koa’e ‘ula take turns fiercely guarding their single egg and subsequent hatchling. After several weeks of growth, the nestling will be left alone as feeding takes the effort of both adults plunge diving into the ocean for fish and squid then returning to regurgitate meals. The red-tailed tropicbird is one of only three species of tropicbirds worldwide and identified by the red bill and distinctive long, red, central tail streamers. Their aerial courtship displays over the ocean are fascinating to watch. Tropicbirds are superb aerial acrobats and the only bird I can think of, other than hummingbirds, which can also fly backwards. Part of their aerial mating repertoire includes circling each other like a backwards Ferris wheel. Surely one of the most beautiful of all the seabirds!
Incubating Cliffside
Spending most of their life at sea, red-tailed tropicbirds, or koa’e ‘ula, return to land only to nest. Agile in the air and in the water, they are awkward on land with short legs behind their center of mass. Nests are simple scrapes in holes and overhangs of shoreline cliffs, carefully selected to be out of reach of terrestrial predators. The nest site landing in the vertical volcanic escarpment is challenging and may take several attempts. Paired adult koa’e ‘ula take turns fiercely guarding their single egg and subsequent hatchling. After several weeks of growth, the nestling will be left alone as feeding takes the effort of both adults plunge diving into the ocean for fish and squid then returning to regurgitate meals. The red-tailed tropicbird is one of only three species of tropicbirds worldwide and identified by the red bill and distinctive long, red, central tail streamers. Their aerial courtship displays over the ocean are fascinating to watch. Tropicbirds are superb aerial acrobats and the only bird I can think of, other than hummingbirds, which can also fly backwards. Part of their aerial mating repertoire includes circling each other like a backwards Ferris wheel. Surely one of the most beautiful of all the seabirds!