- Fregata magnificens
Identification
- Length: 35–44.9 in or 89–114 cm
- Wingspan: 85.4–88.2 in (about 7 feet) or 217–224 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
Male
- All black with purple gloss
- Scarlet throat pouch that can be inflated during mating displays
Female
- Black head and back
- White breast does not reach anywhere near the bill
- Brown band on wings
- Inconspicuous blue eye ring
Immature White head and underparts, rest of bird black
Similar species
On a sitting female, black on the chin and throat makes a dark arrow pointing into the white breast, and on a flying bird, the border seems perpendicular to the flight direction. On a female Great Frigatebird, the white breast points into the black, almost reaching the bill. Up close, look for different color of eye ring
Adult male has different color gloss on mantle when seen up close, and lacks the paler line on upper wing usually seen on Great Frigatebird. If visible, leg color should be diagnostic.
Juvenile Great Frigatebird is usually yellow/orange/tawny on head and upper breast, but the lack of that is not a completely safe field mark for Magnificent.
Distribution
United States; western Mexico; Central America; the Caribbean; northern South America to Brazil in the east and to Ecuador and Galapagos in the west; and on Cape Verde Islands.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized[1].
- F. m. rothschildi - the eastern Pacific (breeding from Mexico south to Ecuador), the western Atlantic (breeding Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean south to Brazil), and in the eastern Atlantic (breeding on the Cape Verde Islands, where now very rare or extirpated)
- F. m. magnificens - Galapagos Islands
Habitat
Pelagic species; at sea, and commonly along coastlines. Is not bothered by human settlement, and may benefit from human activities such as fishing and fish cleaning.
Behaviour
Diet
Diet includes fish, especially flying fish, 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.
Breeding
The male attends 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.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Audubon Guides
- BBC Nature
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Magnificent Frigatebird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Magnificent_Frigatebird
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
