06 August 2017 - Seal Island, Maine - Red-billed Tropicbird. "Seal Island, part of the Maine Coastal Island National Wildlife Refuge is the summer home to a single rare Red-billed Tropicbird. Why this tropical seabird has made the coast of Maine its summer home for the last 12 years is a mystery. A red-billed tropicbird hung around a headland on Martha’s Vineyard in the 1980’s and a white-tailed tropicbird was spotted at a southern California headland back in 1964. This bird...
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06 August 2017 - Seal Island, Maine - Red-billed Tropicbird. "Seal Island, part of the Maine Coastal Island National Wildlife Refuge is the summer home to a single rare Red-billed Tropicbird. Why this tropical seabird has made the coast of Maine its summer home for the last 12 years is a mystery. A red-billed tropicbird hung around a headland on Martha’s Vineyard in the 1980’s and a white-tailed tropicbird was spotted at a southern California headland back in 1964. This bird has a thick red bill, black wingtips, and black scalloping on the back and inner wings. Tropicbirds are an ancient lineage of birds with no close relatives. They are birds of the sea often seen flying high over the ocean or behind ships. Tropicbirds feed on fish, typically diving into the upper layers of the water to catch them. The closest red-billed tropicbird nesting islands are in the Caribbean in Puerto Rico. Photo Credit: Laura Farr/AdMedia
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