David Rayner Photography

Magnificent Frigatebird

MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD (Fregata magnificens) [v17.02, 82 photos]
The Magnificent Frigatebird is over three feet long with a wingspan of seven feet. It feeds (and drinks) in flight by taking food (mainly fish) from the water surface or by robbing other birds in flight. It was their general shape and particularly this latter (pirate like) habit that led to them being dubbed “man o’ war” birds. Magnificent Frigatebirds will fly for several days without landing and never on water. The male has a bright red throat pouch which it inflates in the breeding season to attract a mate. The female has a white breast and throat while immature birds have a white head as well. They are silent in flight and in the right conditions soar to 2,500m above sea level. They breed in the Pacific (e.g. Mexico, Ecuador, Galapagos Is) and Atlantic (e.g. Florida, Caribbean) coasts of tropical America but venture further afield out of the breeding season. There have been (rare) sightings in Europe including in the UK. The photos in this gallery were taken in Antigua, Grenada and SW Florida.
PHOTOS ADDED v17.02: 17 photos taken in SW Florida in 2016.