The Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) was sometimes previously known as Man O'War, reflecting its rakish lines, speed, and aerial piracy of other birds.

It is widespread in the tropical Atlantic, breeding colonially in trees in Florida, the Caribbean and Cape Verde Islands. It also breeds along the Pacific coast of the Americas from Mexico to Ecuador including the Galapagos Islands.

It has occurred as a vagrant as far from its normal range as the Isle of Man, Denmark, Spain, England, and British Columbia.

The Magnificent Frigatebird is 100 cm (39 inches) long with a 215 cm (85 inch) wingspan. Males are all black with a scarlet throat pouch which is inflated like a balloon in the breeding season. Although the feathers are black, the scapular feathers produce a purple iridescence when they reflect sunlight. Females are black, but have a white breast and lower neck sides, a brown band on the wings and a blue eye ring. Immature birds have a white head and underparts.

This species is very similar to the other frigatebirds and is similarly sized to all but the Lesser Frigatebird. However, it lacks a white axillary spur, and juveniles show a distinctive diamond-shaped belly patch.

The Magnificent Frigatebird is silent in flight, but makes various rattling sounds at its nest.

This species feeds mainly on fish, and also attacks other seabirds to force them to disgorge their meals. Frigatebirds never land on water, and always take their food items in flight.

It spends days and nights on the wing, with an average ground speed of 10 km/hour, covering 223±208 km before landing. They alternately climb in thermals, to altitudes occasionally as high as 2500 m, and descend to near the sea surface (Chastel et al. 2003). The only other bird known to spend days and nights on the wing is the Common Swift.

A scientific study that examined genetic and morphological variation in Magnificent Frigatebirds found both expected, and also highly unexpected results: firstly—as predicted by the flight capacity of the species—the authors found signatures of high gene flow across most of the distribution range. This included evidence of recent gene flow among Pacific and Atlantic localities, likely across the Isthmus of Panama. This geological formation is a strong barrier to movement in most tropical seabirds. However, the same study also found that the Magnificent Frigatebird on the Galapagos Islands is genetically and morphologically distinct. Based on this study, the Galapagos population has not been exchanging any genes with their mainland counterparts for several hundred thousand years.^[2]

Given these findings, the Galapagos population of this tropical seabird may be its own genetically distinct species warranting a new conservation status. This small population of genetically unique Magnificent Frigatebirds is a vulnerable population. Any catastrophic event or threats by humans could wipe out the approximate 2,000 Magnificent Frigatebirds that nest on the Galapagos Islands. Magnificent Frigatebirds are currently classified as Least Concern (LC)' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but the Proceedings of the Royal Society paper recommends that, because of the genetic uniqueness of those on the Galápagos, this status be revisited.

References

• Weimerskirch, Henri; Chastel, Olivier; Barbraud, Christophe; Tostain, Olivier (2003-01-23). "Frigatebirds ride high on thermals" (pdf). Nature 421 (6921): 333–334. doi:10.1038/421333a. PMID 12540890. http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/zo501/readings/Frigatebird%20Flight%20Performance.pdf.
• ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd ed.). Comstock Publishing.
• Harrison, Peter: Seabirds: An Identification Guide by ISBN
• Hilty: Birds of Venezuela ISBN
• Stiles and Skutch: A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN

Gallery

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  Chick on a nest

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  Juvenile

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  Part of a group of 30

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  Male with partial inflated throat pouch

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  Male in Mexico

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  Female in flight, Antigua

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  Juvenile in flight, Galapagos Islands

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  Male in flight, Galapagos Islands

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  Female in flight, Galapagos Islands