White-tailed Tropicbird confirmed as breeding in Cape Verde

White-tailed Tropicbird has been documented breeding on an uninhabited islet in Cape Verde.

The discovery on Ilhéu de Cima represents the first time that a chick of this species has been observed in the archipelago and wider Western Palearctic.

On 13 February 2024, local researchers observed a young chick alongside an adult at a nest on the islet, which lies some 8 km north-east of the island of Brava.

Adult White-tailed Tropicbird with chick on Ilhéu de Cima, Cape Verde, 13 February 2024 (Associação Projecto Vitó).

White-tailed Tropicbird has been observed at Ilhéu de Cima since 2020, when an adult trapped and ringed in early July was followed by the discovery of a pair incubating an egg in August. However, the outcome of that nesting attempt isn't known. Two adults were seen again there in January 2021.

White-tailed is the smallest of the world's three tropicbird species and also the most widespread in terms of distribution, being found in all of the world's tropical oceans. It was formerly considered a rare visitor to the Western Palearctic, with previous Cape Verde records from 1999 and 2011 and a wide-ranging bird in the Azores between 2011 and 2013. Interestingly, a tideline corpse was discovered in Cumbria, England, in January 2013, but was not admitted to the British list.