[tunpin.ong]

Hi,
Frigatebirds are notoriously hard to identify, especially the immature or the juveniles. Attached are 2 photos taken in 2003 Dec during my short trip to Christmas Island just before Xmas.

Bird in Photo 1972 was taken at a nesting site which I was told is one of the few remaining nesting sites of Christmas Island Frigatebirds (Fregata andrewsi). Alas no adults were present at the time of phototaking and I was totally ignorant of juvenile identification features at that time. However after alot of post trip research, I personally think that these are Christmas Island Fregatebirds, especially based on location and the black breast 'tab', this is highly probable.

Wonder if it can be confidently and positively identified that this is a Christmas Island Frigatebird. Note that Great Frigatebirds (F. minor) are also breeding on Christmas Island.

Another Bird in photo 1915 was taken at Lily Beach on Christmas Island. This was not a breeding site. A lonely immature bird happened to land on a tree for a break.

Appreciate if anyone would give any suggestions or disputes on the identification of these 2 birds (more photos can be provided if necessary). Or is there simply no way one could tell from the photos provided?

Some 'Christmas goodies' for you.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Regards,
Tun-Pin
Sydney

[James Eaton]

Hi Tun-Pin,

I shall study your frigatebird photos in detail shortly, for further study for yourself though, it is worth refering to the many excellent photographs found on Oriental Bird Images Database, see link;

http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/se...rd=frigatebird

Birding Asia vol 1 (www.orientalbirdclub.org) has a superb identification article on seperating this tricky group.

The first photo appears to be Christmas Island Frigatebird due to the broad white fringes of the greater coverts, forming an extremely prominent whitishh alar bar, along with a relatively long bill.

The second photo appears to show a Christmas Island Frigatebird due to the angular and squarish sides to the white belly patch.

[tunpin.ong]

Thanks James,
Your id goes with mine as well. I have gone thru many times both the resources you had mentioned. In fact I had met with the resident researcher as well as the contributor of the said resources, David James when I was there. Nice chap! He had taught me alot of useful infor and told me the location where Xmas Frigatebird was likely to occur. Unfortunately he would not endorse on the photos I showed him afterwards for personal reason.

It would be useful for birders around Southeast Asia for being able to id these immature frigatebirds usually without all the obvious features displayed. This would likely to happen out of its stronghold in Christmas Island, where the number of Frigatebirds are low and usually seen from long distance.

I have personally become more confident to id immature oriental frigatebirds after going thru David's articles and his sample photos. Wonder if anyone share the same thoughts.

Regards,
Tun Pin
Sydney

Originally Posted by James Eaton

Hi Tun-Pin,

I shall study your frigatebird photos in detail shortly, for further study for yourself though, it is worth refering to the many excellent photographs found on Oriental Bird Images Database, see link;

http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/se...rd=frigatebird

Birding Asia vol 1 (www.orientalbirdclub.org) has a superb identification article on seperating this tricky group.

The first photo appears to be Christmas Island Frigatebird due to the broad white fringes of the greater coverts, forming an extremely prominent whitishh alar bar, along with a relatively long bill.

The second photo appears to show a Christmas Island Frigatebird due to the angular and squarish sides to the white belly patch.

[James Eaton]

Hi Tun Pin,

I agree the article by David James is an excellent one, extremely helpful, it shows that frigatebird id is far from straightforward. Birds away from Christmas Island are difficult to identify, views of frigatebirds in Southeast Asian waters can be surprisingly good, I've been able to confidently id c70% of the birds I've encountered as Lessers, with a small minority as Greaters (all Greaters off Halmahera, Indonesia). I'm still to confirm a Christmas Island, though I haven't gone throughas many frigatebirds as I would like.

There is an article on the Birdlife website currently about radio tracking a Christmas Island Frigatebird, within the space of 4 months (?) it travelled to Sabah, Sumatra, before heading over Java, returning to feed its waiting chick, that presumably the male fed in the meantime

[Tim Allwood]

watcha chaps

anyone interrested in frigbird ID should read David's article in Birding Asia vol.1 as quoted by James above. It has several excellent photos showing salient points and covers all ages of Great, Lesser and Christmas Island. The text is thorough and currently the last word on the subject.