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Great Frigatebird
(Fregata minor)
: "Greater Frigate-bird", "Man-o'-war Bird",
"Man-o'-war Hawk",
"Seahawk"
Size: 85-105 cm; wing span 2.05-2.3 m
Weight:
1.0-1.45 kg (male),
1.2-1.6 kg (female)
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Similar species |
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Great Frigatebirds are large seabirds with dimorphic plumage.
Male Frigatebirds are predominantly black, with a grey bill and
eye ring and pink feet. They have a
scarlet throat sac which, when not inflated, shows as a red
spot on the throat.
Females
are black and white. They have a white breast and belly.
The legs are pink. The colour of the bill and eye ring depends
on race. The bill of a Great Frigatebird is narrow and extremely
hooked.
Immature
have grey mottling on breast and throat; otherwise they resemble
female
Great Frigatebirds.
Juveniles have a buff head and a black breast band.
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Twitcher's tip |
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Compared to Lesser
Frigatebirds, Great Frigatebirds do not have any white markings
on their inner wings.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Great
Frigatebird at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
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The global distribution of the Great Frigatebird is available
HERE
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Great Frigatebirds populate parts of the tropical and subtropical
oceans. The five races combined have a range extending from the
tropical African East coast and Madagascar across the Indian Ocean,
via the South-east Asian islands (including Indonesia and New Guinea)
and the South China Sea through to the Pacific Ocean.
There they can be found from the Australian East coast to California
in the USA and farther South, to about -30 degrees latitude.
There is a separate population in the South Atlantic Ocean, to
the East of Brazil.
Along the Australian continental coast they can occasionally be
found anywhere from the Top End of the NT in the West to Fraser
Island, QLD, in the East. Strays are found only rarely farther
South along the Australian East coast, to about the NSW Central
Coast.
Great Frigatebirds spend most of the non-breeding season on the
seas around
their breeding colonies, which are located on oceanic islands. They will enter continental
coastal waters
only infrequently.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
M. Mearns reports seeing Great Frigatebirds at Lady Elliot Island,
off the coast of QLD near Agnes Water, in January 2006 and again
in January 2016.
H. Mouritsen reports spotting a Great Frigatebird on One Tree
Island, Capricornia Cays NP, near Rockhampton, QLD, in January
2011.
D. Williams and M. Roderick report spotting a Great Frigatebird
at Newcastle Harbour, NSW, in January 2015.
M. Eaton reports finding a Great Frigatebird at Chili Beach, Cape
York peninsula, QLD, in August 2019.
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Photos |
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Race "minor" or "palmerstoni"?
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ADULT |
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MALE |
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Near-frontal view of a male Great Frigatebird; note the feathers on
the side of the gular sac (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]
Near-frontal view of a male Great Frigatebird
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]
Lateral view of a male Great Frigatebird; note the feathers on
the side of the gular sac (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]
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FEMALE |
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Near-lateral view of a female Great Frigatebird in flight
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]
Lateral view of a female Great Frigatebird in flight (photo courtesy
of H. Mouritsen)
[One Tree Island, Capricornia Cays NP, QLD, January 2011]
Lateral view of a female Great Frigatebird in flight (photo courtesy
of D. Williams)
[Newcastle Harbour, NSW, January 2015]
Ventral view of a female Great Frigatebird in flight (photo courtesy
of D. Williams)
[Newcastle Harbour, NSW, January 2015]
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IMMATURE/JUVENILE |
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Frontal view of an immature female Great Frigatebird
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]
Near-frontal view of an immature female Great Frigatebird perched
in a tree; the white breast characterises this bird as a female,
while the bluish eye-ring indicates an immature bird (photo courtesy
of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, QLD, January 2006]
Lateral view of an immature female Great Frigatebird
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]
Lateral view of an immature female Great Frigatebird
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]
Female Great Frigatebird, centre, and two immature males,
left and right, in flight (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.