Two of the world's five classes of Frigate Birds live in the Galápagos, both with interesting names mirroring their appearance -- the Great Frigate Bird (Fregataminor), and the Magnificent Frigate Bird (F. magnificens). Shipboard patrons in the Galápagos often find Frigate Birds easily loafing on the supports or line, their aged shape eerily symbolic of a pre-historic flying reptiles. This incredible acrobatic flyer is a regular sight around the boats and beaches.
Magnificent Frigate Bird Fregata magnificens What does a Greater Frigate Bird look like? The Greater Frigate Bird is a large and strong black bird with a long, angled bill, a large red crop with black dots extending from its nib to its throat. The adult male Frigate Bird displays a completely black plumage and has a red, expanding throat sac.
The adult female bird has a white breast that extends up to the chin, with a red eye-ring and the rest of her feathers are black. The immature Frigate Bird shows a white head and breast while the remainder of their plumage remains black. The male has a faint green sheen on its back, especially notable during the courtship season.
The male Magnificent Frigate Bird's back sheen is purple, the female's breast feathers end at the throat, and her eye-ring is blue. Both species of Frigate Birds are long winged, web footed sea birds, known for their smooth and elegant long range flights.
With its size , long, pointed wings and forked tail the Frigate Bird is immediately distinguishable even at long distances. The Frigate Birds are also known as "man o' war." This still is a light weight bird even with a wing span of nearly 90 inches and an overall length of about 30 inches. Their forked tail assists their capacity to shift direction swiftly and navigate with ease to very high altitudes. They readily soar on their long, pointed wings and long, forked tail. People most often see these magnificent birds soaring over coastal areas.
Strangely, the Frigate Bird has one of the longest term of adolescence of all birds. After hatching it may be six months before the chick is able to fly. Even then, the young birds may depend on its parents for food for over a year, and they do not reach full sexual maturity for almost five years.
How does it move? It walks, but it does not walk very smoothly.
