Dominica Botanic Gardens Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica, West Indies

Male Frigatebird closeup – Photo: E. Kirdler Female Frigatebird Female Frigatebird – Photo: Matt Edmonds Juvenile Frigatebird

Description: The Magnificent Frigatebird is a large, black, high soaring, seabird, 89-114 cm long (35-45 in), famous for its wide wingspan of 7-8 ft (2.1-2.4 m), the longest in Dominica, and widest in proportion to weight of any bird; Frigatebirds have long, hooked, gray bills; long, narrow, pointed wings, with a pronounced forward bend in the middle; tail is often forked (like a scissors, hence local name Sizo or scissors); legs and feet are dark gray; females are slightly bigger than males and have a large, white patch across chest; juveniles have white head and chest; breeding males have a striking, brilliant red throat pouch, which is hugely inflated during courtship; Frigatebirds are agile fliers that rarely, if ever, land on water; they always take their food in flight, snatching it off the surface of the ocean or stealing from other birds; will also attack other seabirds to force them to drop or disgorge their meal, which the Frigatebird then retrieves in flight; they eat fish, crustaceans and jellyfish. In the Gardens, they are occasionally seen soaring high overhead when they stray off the coast. Frigatebirds are silent in flight, but make clicking, wheezy, and grating calls in their colonies. Click here to listen to their calls (takes a few seconds to start). References: Arlington James, et al. Dominica’s Birds. Forestry, Wildlife and Parks Division, Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment, Dominica, 2005 James Bond. Birds of the West Indies. Collins, St James Place, London, 4th Edition, 1979 Fred J. Alsop III. Birds of Florida. Smithsonian Handbooks, Dorling Kindersley, New York, NY 2002 Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Magnificent Frigatebird: Fregata magnificens. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (www.birds.cornell.edu, March 2008).