Juv. Red-tailed Tropical rests on the sea (left) and it’s actural size (right). 紅尾熱帶鳥幼鳥在海面上休息(左)，實際的距離是很遙遠的(右)。 2021.07.08
I’ve been to Dongsha (Pratas Island) Atoll National Park to conduct a bird survey in July 2021. As the airport is under construction, this time I took the ship back to Pratas Island. On the way there, I met a juv. Red-tailed Tropicalbird resting on the sea and I met another flying RTT on the way back to Taiwan. The flying Red-tailed tropicalbird approached our ship slightly after seeing our ship, and flew back and forth on both sides of the ship. Later on, this TPP didn’t follow the ship and left slowy. Maybe this TPP does’nt have any interest in the ship at all.
2021年7月我去了一趟東沙環礁國家公園做調查，因為機場正在整修，所以這一次是搭船來回的。在去程的時候遇到一隻停棲在海面上的紅尾熱帶鳥幼鳥，回程的時候又遇到一隻飛行的紅尾熱帶鳥幼鳥。那一隻飛行的紅尾熱帶鳥看到我們的船之後有稍微靠近，並在船的兩側來回飛行了一下，但可能因為飛行速度比船還慢，又或者對船沒有太大的興趣，所以就慢慢離開了。
Juv. Red-tailed Tropicalbird in flight 紅尾熱帶鳥幼鳥飛行 2021.07.18
Red-tailed tropicalbirds are pelagic seabirds in tropical area. They are quite rare in Taiwan. The records of RTT in Taiwan are mainly along the coast before and after a typhoon, and more often they are injured birds unable to fly. It is said that RTP are quite abundant around Nansha Taiping Island, but Taiping Island is farther than Pratas Island, and it is more difficult to visit Taiping Island. As in this trip I saw very few species of birds in Pratas Island, which is quite usual in summer. However, this RTT has become a good bird for me.
紅尾熱帶鳥屬於遠洋性的熱帶海鳥，在台灣是相當罕見的，通常都是在颱風前後才比較容易在沿岸發現，更多時候是被民眾發現無法飛行的傷鳥。據說在南沙太平島一帶數量相當的多，但太平島比東沙島更遠，也更難有機會前往太平島。夏季的東沙島沒有太多的鳥種，但可以在海上遇到熱帶鳥對我個人來說已經是很棒的鳥種了。