Some of the most elegant birds I know are the tropicbirds. I have photographed the Red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) in the Galapagos and was very excited to see the Red-tailed tropicbird in Madagascar. On Nosy Ve, where it breeds, it became possible. Time and time again I got to enjoy its elegant flight overhead. The red tail swayed so handsomely in time with the beat of the wings. But elegance is not always an insurance of safety... There are said to have been eight species of tropicbirds. Today there are only three left. (The one I have not photographed is the White-tailed tropicbird (Phaeton lepturus) which occurs in tropical parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans). The three species are decreasing in numbers, but not enough to be considered threatened yet.