Well it really depends on who you ask. From a taxonomy perspective, they are not. They differ big time. The term "Red Tail" is highly abused in this hoddy in my opinion. I mean, are BCI's tails really red? Or more of an orange or Brown? BCI, BCC, BCL, BCS, BCA etc are ALL Boa Constrictors. BCC are red tails. And the term "True Red Tail" is used because people in the pet trade throw Red Tail boa on all sorts of ssps. because it sounds much better than Boa Constritor. People call BCI's red tails, but technically, they are not.