Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Magnificent Frigatebird

Fregata magnificens

Description:

Spotted on a small mangrove island rookery in Belize. The only other bird spotted on the small island was the brown booby (Sula leucogaster). There were easily hundreds of these birds packed onto this tiny little island. It was quite a site!

Habitat:

Mainly in coastal waters (sometimes inland over large bodies of water or in association with storms); generally within sight of land when offshore. Roosts on rocks, vegetation of offshore islands, and on rigging of boats. Nests on islands in mangroves, low trees, and shrubs; usually on steep slope of offshore island. Sensitive to disturbance; usually nests on most remote cays and islets.

Notes:

This bird was sometimes previously known as man o'war or man of war, reflecting its rakish lines, speed, and aerial piracy of other birds. This species feeds mainly on fish, and attacks other seabirds to force them to disgorge their meals. Frigatebirds never land on water, and always take their food items in flight.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

4 Comments

marylou.wildlife
marylou.wildlife 9 years ago

Yeah, unfortunately I did not get the GPS coordinates of many of the sites I visited in Belize, and the Map Search rarely picks up on those small islands. I think the location is pretty close now.

KarenSaxton
KarenSaxton 9 years ago

I was confused by the map

marylou.wildlife
marylou.wildlife 9 years ago

Karen, it was offshore. I posted a photo of the actual island they were on.

KarenSaxton
KarenSaxton 9 years ago

Just out of curiousity - were these off shore or was the island inland?

marylou.wildlife
Spotted by
marylou.wildlife

Belmopan, Cayo, Belize

Spotted on May 14, 2013
Submitted on Jun 1, 2014

Related Spottings

Magnificent Frigatebird Inmature Fregata magnificens Magnificent Frigatebird Frégate superbe

Nearby Spottings

Bridled Goby Brown Anole Slimy Sea Plume Bamboo Palm
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team