From Opus

Fregata magnificens

Female (above) and Male in mating display. Photo: Ian Jeanneret.
Location: Santa Cruz, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Immature. Photo by Gary Clark
Location: Acapulco, Mexico.

Male in flight. Photo by Gary Clark
Location: Acapulco, Mexico.

[edit] Identification

Length 100 cm. Females significantly larger than males, and Caribbean populations generally a little larger than more westerly populations. Both sexes and all age-groups have:

• Long, hooked bill
• Mostly black plumage
• Long pointed wings with characteristic profile
• Long, deeply forked tail often held closed

[edit] Male

• All black
• Scarlet throat pouch that can be inflated during mating displays.

[edit] Female

• Black head and back
• White breast and lower neck
• Brown band on wings
• Inconspicuous blue eye ring

[edit] Immature

White head and underparts, rest of bird black.

[edit] Distribution

United States, western Mexico, the Caribbean and Cape Verde Islands.

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.

[edit] Habitat

Pelagic species; at sea, and commonly along coastlines. Is not bothered by human settlement, and may benefit from human activities such as fishing.

[edit] Behaviour

Diet includes fish, especially flyingfish, which are taken in flight. Will attack other seabirds to steal their catches or try to force them to disgorge their meals. Will also snatch offal, such as fish entrails discarded by fishermen, from the surface of the sea.

The male attend the nest for about 100 days, while the female stays with the single offspring for approximately another year; most of that time, the young stay in the nest. The female is therefore only able to breed every other year, while males may breed every year or maybe even more often in different colonies.

[edit] References

1. Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019

[edit] External Links