Why do frigates need a red bag. The frigate is magnificent

And cormorants, they are allocated in a separate family of frigate (Fregatidae) and live in tropical and subtropical regions. Five species of birds belong to this genus.

All frigates have narrow wings, and the tail is long and bifurcated, reminiscent of the English letter W. Such devices are necessary for the bird for maneuverability in flight. Frigates fly very skillfully, but on the ground they feel not so confident, as their legs are short. The bird's wings are used to maintain balance when sitting in trees. Largest species magnificent frigate, about 110 cm long, its wingspan reaches 230 cm. The weight of the bird is up to 1.5 kg. On average, frigates are slightly smaller. For these birds, unlike many others marine life, sexual dimorphism is characteristic. The back of both females and males is black with a green or blue tint, and young birds are brown. Males are distinguished by inflatable throat sacs of bright red color, which reach 25 cm in diameter. Females have a white throat.

The food of frigates is very diverse and includes fish, squid, crustaceans, molluscs. But these birds do not like to hunt on their own. They prefer to soar in the air and look out for other birds that return from the sea with their prey (petrels, phaetons, gannets, pelicans) and attack them. Seeing a bird with prey, the frigate catches up with it and beats it with its beak and wings until it regurgitates what it has eaten. In turn, the frigate immediately picks up someone else's delicacy, eats it and flies away. Large pelicans are attacked by several large frigates. For this behavior, the frigates were even nicknamed the feathered pirates. Moreover, frigates can attack colonies of other birds, destroy nests and eat chicks. In addition to food that frigates take from other species of birds, they can catch prey on their own, while jellyfish, mollusks, crustaceans and carrion become prey for frigates. Birds collect such food in flight from the surface of the water.

Bird spread

Most types of frigates are common in tropical waters: from 25 degrees north latitude to 25 degrees south latitude. Nesting colonies of frigates are located on the islands of the Pacific Ocean, the western regions of the Atlantic Ocean and the southern Indian Ocean.

Common types of frigates

The habitat of the species is the tropical islands of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. The body length of the bird is from 85 to 105 cm, the wingspan reaches 230 cm. The large frigate nests in colonies on oceanic islands, and spends the rest of the year over the sea. Before the mating season, a large leathery sac of bright red color appears on the throat of males. To attract the female, the males inflate it and make characteristic sounds.

The bird is large in size, body length up to 102 cm, wingspan from 217 to 229 cm. The weight of an adult bird is 1.1-1.6 kg. The tail is long, bifurcated. The wings are narrow and long, in flight they look like the letter W. The color of the plumage is black with shine, the females have a white stripe on the belly. Males have a red throat sac that swells up during the mating season. The legs are short, with strong claws and webbing between the toes. In young birds, the head and belly are white, and the back is brown-black with light brown streaks. The adult color appears at 4-6 years of age. The magnificent frigate is distributed along the Pacific coast of Central and South America from Baja California to Ecuador, in the Galapagos Islands. Birds also live near the Atlantic coast of South America from Florida to southern Brazil.

This species is endemic to the small Boatswain Island, which is located near Ascension Island in the south Atlantic Ocean. The body length of the bird is from 89 to 96 cm. The wingspan reaches 200 cm. The tail is long, thymus. The plumage color of an adult male is black. A green tint is expressed on the head. The throat sac of males is light red; it swells up strongly during the mating. The female is dark brown with a red collar and breast. Young birds outwardly resemble females, but differ from them in a white head color.

Christmas frigate (Fregata andrewsi)

A large bird with a body length from 90 to 100 cm. The wingspan is 205 - 230 cm, the weight of the bird is about 1.5 kg. The plumage color is brownish-black. The wings are long, the tail is long and forked. Males have an oval white spot on the tummy, and the throat sac is colored bright scarlet to attract the female. Females are larger in size than males, and are distinguished by white plumage on the breast and abdomen. The Christmas frigate is endemic to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

The species is common in the tropical waters of the Indian and Atlantic oceans. Sometimes found on Far East... The body length of the bird is from 71 to 81 cm, the wingspan is 175-195 cm.The weight of males is in the range of 625-875 g, in females it is slightly more - from 750 to 950 g. The color of the plumage of the male is black with green, blue or purple ebb tide. The upper part of the breast in females is white. For the frigate Ariel, there are three similar subspecies, which have different wingspan and beak length, as well as their habitat:

  • Fregata ariel ariel, distributed in the central and eastern waters of the Indian Ocean, in the west and in the center of the Pacific Ocean.
  • Fregata ariel iredalei, inhabitant of the western waters of the Indian Ocean.
  • Fregata ariel trinaitatis, lives in the South Atlantic Ocean, breeds exclusively on Trindade Island.

Large frigate is one of the few species seabirds, which are characterized by sexual dimorphism in plumage color and size. Males are usually slightly smaller in size than females, their plumage is black throughout the body, on the back it shines with a greenish-purple sheen. In addition, the male is easy to distinguish by the skin sac located in the throat area, which, during the mating, swells up very much and turns bright red. Such a special decoration is necessary for the male in order to attract females. In females, the back, like in males, is black, and the plumage in the chest and tummy is white. Young birds in plumage color resemble females, but their back is painted brown.

Frigates are monogamous birds that nest once every two or three years on sparsely populated islands and along deserted continental coasts. Since predators do not live on such islands, frigates are not afraid to build their nests in bushes or trees at a low height from the ground. Frigates nest in both large enough colonies (for example, there are about a thousand nests on Laysan Island), and very small ones - up to 15 pairs. Often frigates arrange nesting sites with gannets in order to subsequently take food from them. The mating season differs in different regions, which is usually associated with the availability of sufficient food at one time or another. Before the start of nest construction, mating games take place between frigates. Males settle in trees and bushes, inflate their bright skin sacs located on the throat, while lifting their heads up and spreading their wings. They also emit characteristic singing sounds. For several days, the females fly over this "orchestra" and choose a partner for themselves. Frigates place their nests on low trees or bushes, and sometimes right on the ground. The place must be protected from the wind and well heated by the sun. The frigate nest looks like a platform that birds build from branches and other plant materials. In one clutch, the female always has one white egg, which is hatched alternately by the male and the female. They change with each other every 3-18 days. Incubation lasts from 40 to 50 days, after which a chick is born, completely devoid of fluff, so it is constantly warmed by an adult bird. At the age of 4 to 5 months, young birds have fully developed plumage and they begin to fly; they differ from adults only in a white head. For another 7-8 months, the young frigate stays near the nest, eats food brought by its parents, and uses their protection. Frigates reach sexual maturity at the age of 5 to 7 years.

  • The English name of the frigates - "man of war" (warship) - indicates the predatory habits of these birds. Adult frigates meet gannets, pelicans, terns, gulls, cormorants and other birds that return from hunting, and chase them in order to select prey, for this they also beat the birds with their strong beaks and tails. As soon as the birds regurgitate their prey, the frigates pick it up and fly away. Young frigates who have learned to fly often peck chicks of their own species.
  • Frigates - national symbol state of Nauru, the locals use these birds for fishing. Also, the Polynesians, with the help of frigates, transmit messages to each other, using them like carrier pigeons.
  • On the islands of Polynesia, frigates are often tamed and taught in a variety of tricks. They are watered from the mouth and fed with selected fish. One of the favorite folk entertainment in the Pacific Islands is the competition between frigates. Frigates are usually very attached to the islands where they were born, and do not fly far out to sea from them.

Frigates inhabit tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Enough large bird, with a large wingspan (2m), easily and beautifully soars over the water surface.

Birds can fly for a long time, looking for food, then deftly dive down and catch it on the fly. They do not sit on the water for several reasons: weak and short legs; the membrane between the long fingers is poorly developed. Therefore, they cannot start from the water surface and from the ground, by the way, too. But the claws are sharp and bent in order to grab prey in flight.


He also cannot wet his feathers, because they get wet quickly. The bird's wings are too long, which also interferes with taking off from the water. So it turns out that these seabirds cannot swim and dive, and they cannot walk. They prefer to sit and rest on tree branches. But all the same, these birds have an advantage, they fly beautifully, and in speed and maneuver when hunting, they have no equal.

With its impressive size (about a meter and a little more), the frigate is lightweight, on average - 1.5 kg. Females are slightly larger than males. The plumage is black, on the back with a green tint, the chest is white. In males, the throat sac is usually brownish in color. The bird has good eyesight. The head is small, but a long beak with a hook at the end is a good help for getting food.


They mainly feed on those that jump out of the water. But try it, catch such a fish on the fly. Our handsome man masterfully copes with such a hunt - this is already a skill. He can feast on a jellyfish, lowering his beak into the water. All day frigates soar over the ocean, at night they return to the shore.

But still, this bird has no variety in hunting, and therefore it is engaged in robbery, because you always want to eat. They swoop in, push, interfere with the flight of other birds (gulls, gannets), they can even pinch their tail and paws. This is how he hooligan until another bird drops or regurgitates its prey. They eat chicks and eggs.

The males of the frigate are the first to arrive at their nesting sites on uninhabited rocky islands. It inflates its throat sac, which turns dark red, snaps its beak and even tries to sing. However, he is not very good at the latter. Finicky females are looking for a partner in the size of the throat sac: the larger it is, the better.

Having found a suitable groom, she rubs against his throat bag, and from this moment you can start building the nest. They build a nest from branches, which they do not get very stable. By the way, they can steal from each other. construction material... Here are the mischievous! The female lays one egg on which both parents will sit in turn. When clumsy changing each other, an egg may fall out of an unstable nest.

After 7 weeks, a naked chick will be born. Caring parents look after and feed their baby. Six months later, the chick fledges, then leaves the nest. But his caring mother will feed her chick for another four months. With such long-term care of the offspring, females lay one egg once a year. Chicks are vulnerable, if they fall out of the nest, they will die. Also small, but already fledged frigates can be devoured by their own congeners.

Frigate Type: Ariel's Frigates

Frigate, bird Frigates are amazing birds. Few of the winged have mastered the art of flying so masterfully. The frigate's long tail is deeply cut like a swallow. The pectoral muscles, the engine for the wings, plus the plumage weigh half the entire frigate. The bones are filled with air. The specific load on the surface of the wing of the frigate is perhaps less than that of any other seabird. The wings span two meters, while the frigate itself, with a body length equal to one meter, weighs only 1.5-2 kilograms. Classification Class - Birds Order - Pelicaniformes Family - Frigate Genus - Frigate No bird is shorter-legged: its tiny legs are shorter than those of a lark or starling, their length is slightly more than two centimeters. Because of these mini-legs, they are also almost without membranes, the frigate cannot swim. Nor can dive. Almost never sits on the water. And if he sat down, not always, they say, he will be able to take off: the wings are too long, neither spread nor flap on the water, and the legs are short, you cannot jump on them. The coccygeal gland is also tiny, the poorly salted feather gets wet quickly. He also does not know how to take off from land, far from the cliff, from which you can throw yourself down and fly. Only rocks, bushes and trees are suitable landing sites for frigates. Frigates hover over the ocean for hours. They play, writing out amazing turns in the sky, or, descending to the water itself, snatch fish, jellyfish, crustaceans from the surface of the waves. Flying fish are also caught. But their main business is robbery. Frigates can fly for a long time, looking for food, then deftly dive down and catch it on the fly. These birds do not land on the water for several reasons. The frigate has weak and short legs, the membrane between the long toes is poorly developed. Therefore, they cannot start from the water surface and from the ground, by the way, too. But the claws are sharp and bent in order to grab prey in flight. Also, the frigate must not wet the feathers, because they get wet quickly. The frigate's wings are too long, which also interferes with taking off from the water. So it turns out that these seabirds cannot swim and dive, and they cannot walk. Frigates prefer to sit and rest on tree branches. But still, frigates have an advantage, they fly perfectly, and in speed and maneuver when hunting, they have no equal. Frigates patrol the seashore, guarding birds returning with prey. Noticing a cormorant, gannet, gull, tern, even a pelican flying to the shore from a height, the frigate quickly descends and attacks the successful fisherman. Pushes him, flaps his wings and strong beak... The frightened, beaten bird will regurgitate everything that it has eaten, and the frigate deftly grabs the dinner it spewed out. Birds of prey and pelicans are attacked by two and three. One frigate holds by the tail, others accurately beat the head with their beaks in front and tear off the wings. For such deeds they were called frigates. On frigates, fast sailing ships, before the seas of filibusters, corsairs and other pirates and sea robbers roamed the seas. Robbery at the frigates in the blood. Adults rob neighbors: they steal branches and eggs from nests, devour chicks. Young, barely fledged, also do this. And as soon as they learn to fly, they immediately awaken the desire to rob on the big sea routes. First, they rush in front of every bird, only then, gaining experience, they attack those who, willy-nilly, feed them a hearty dinner. The males of all frigates, and there are five types of them, are black, the throat and craw are not feathered: the skin is bright red here. Token on bushes and trees near the places chosen for nests, frigates inflate their throats huge bubble... All the trees are dotted with like big red fruits. Females are larger than males, usually brown, light-chested. Chicks are white-headed, in one species - red-headed. Frigates break branches for nests on the fly, fish them out of the sea or steal from other people's nests. Each pair has only one chick. He lives on parental support for a long time: 4-5 months he sits in the nest, not really feathered. Then for another week, a month or more, his parents feed him, although their long-winged baby already flies well. Young frigates gather in companies and frolic in the sky. Play high above the sea, tossing, releasing and grabbing on the fly in masterly throws different feathers and algae. Trained for hunting flying fish, young storm petrels. Frigates kill them on the water, on land and in the air. They are practicing methods of attacking cormorants and boobies overloaded with fish. With its impressive size (about a meter and a little more), the frigate is lightweight, on average - 1.5 kg. Females are slightly larger than males. The plumage of the bird is black, on the back with a green tint, the chest is white. In males, the throat sac is usually brownish in color. The frigates have good eyesight. The frigate's head is small, but the long beak with a hook at the end is a good help for getting food. Birds Frigates mainly feed on flying fish that jump out of the water. But try it, catch such a fish on the fly. A handsome frigate masterfully copes with such a hunt - this is already a skill. The frigate can also feast on jellyfish, lowering its beak into the water. But still, this bird has no variety in hunting, and therefore it is engaged in robbery, because you always want to eat. Frigates swoop in, push, interfere with the flight of other birds (gulls, pelicans, gannets), they can even pinch their tail and paws. This is how the frigate hooligan until another bird drops or regurgitates its prey. They eat chicks and eggs. The males of the frigate are the first to arrive at their nesting sites on uninhabited rocky islands. It inflates its throat sac, which turns dark red, snaps its beak and even tries to sing. However, he is not very good at the latter. Finicky females are looking for a partner in the size of the throat sac: the larger it is, the better. Having found a suitable groom, she rubs against his throat bag, and from this moment you can start building the nest. Frigates build a nest from branches, which they get is not very stable. By the way, they can steal building material from each other. Here are the mischievous! The female lays one egg on which both parents will sit in turn. When clumsy changing each other, an egg may fall out of an unstable nest. After 7 weeks, a naked frigate chick will be born. Caring parents look after and feed their baby. Six months later, the chick fledges, then leaves the nest. But his caring mother will feed her chick for another four months. With such long-term care of the offspring, females lay one egg once a year. Chicks are vulnerable, if they fall out of the nest, they will die. Also small, but already fledged frigates can be eaten by their own congeners. The large frigate is one of the few seabird species that exhibit sexual dimorphism in size and plumage. Males are slightly smaller than females, and have a black feather cover all over the body, which casts a greenish-purple sheen on the back. In addition, there is a skin sac on the male's chest, which during mating season swells to unimaginable sizes and turns bright red. This accessory serves the sole purpose of attracting a partner. The upper body of the female frigate is also covered with a black feather, while the chest and belly are white. Juveniles are similar in plumage to females, only their top is not black, but brown. For fast games they love frigates on the Polynesian islands, tame them, teach them different tricks. They drink from the mouth, feed with selected fish. Frigate competitions are a favorite folk entertainment on the Pacific Islands. Children here learn to train frigates by training dragonflies. Frigates are very attached to the islands on which they were born, they do not fly far into the sea. They make good letter carriers: in Polynesia they are trained like carrier pigeons.

Yes, it is true, the frigate bird in its habits is very similar to the actions when they attacked the ships of merchants, taking away goods. Why does the frigate bird bear the name of the ship?- here is her photo against the background of the frigate, compare also grace, determination and a red bag on the throat, like a red scarf around a pirate's neck.

Frigate bird or ship, photo

The bird has a frigate narrow wings and long tail bifurcated like an airplane or glider. The bird is a magnificent frigate, it flies over the sea surface for a long time. Justifying the name given to it by the English pirates, the frigate attacks other seabirds returning from fishing, gannets, terns, beats them with their beak and picks up the dropped prey, preventing it from falling into the water.


True, the bird is a frigate and a skillful hunter herself, she easily catches flying fish, and attack others water birds, and she is forced to take prey from them because of the characteristics of her body. Look at the photo of the frigate below, it has short legs and very long wings.

The largest species of the family of these birds, the magnificent frigate, reaches body length, mainly due to a tail of 110 cm and a wingspan of up to 230 cm, while it weighs only 1.5 kg. - a wanderer of the seas. Frigates, like albatrosses, are skilled flyers; they spend most of their time in the air above water bodies and soar without moving their wings for a long time.

Due to their long wings and tail, they are not able to swim, therefore they are simply forced to take prey from other seabirds and animals. Due to the length of their wings, they are also unable to take off from the water and are forced to land only in trees. Even flying over land, the frigate bird manages in planning to snatch chicks other birds from the nest, and even the material for building the nest is stolen by frigates from other people's nests.

On the ground, the frigate bird is clumsy due to its short legs and a bright red inflatable bag on its throat. Sitting in trees, they use their wings to maintain balance. In males of the frigate, these bags are bright red, up to 25 cm in diameter, in females the throat is white, there is no bag.

Birds frigates off Christmas Island.

The frigate bird lives on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. Frigates are relatives of pelicans and cormorants in structure and some habits. In addition to the "Christmas" island, the frigate bird can be found in the Seychelles, in northeastern Australia, in Polynesia. The bird frigate is the national symbol of the state of Nauru, where they, like our cormorants, are used. Because of their attachment to the nest, the Polynesians still use the frigate bird to send messages, as we once used carrier pigeons.

By the way, only males build nests at frigates, in trees, and females choose a mate for themselves by the largest red bag on the throat. Interestingly, the frigates have only one egg in their clutch, the chicks, after being born with full plumage, grow overgrown only after five months, and for a few more months the chick is fed by the parents, even after it learns to fly on its own.

And we inflated the bag to please the female frigate.

Bird frigate 8 photos.

Frigates / Fregatidae family

The large frigate plumage is black with a brown tint on the underside of the body. The head and back feathers have a greenish-bronze metallic sheen. On the chin, throat and goiter, the skin is not feathery. During mating season, a strongly developed swelling of an intense red color is formed here. In females, this swelling is less and has a pale coloration. Males are slightly smaller than females. Wing length in males is 57-60 cm, in females - 60-62 cm. The large frigate is the most widespread bird of the family. He inhabits the islands of the tropical Indian, Pacific

Large frigate

(very common on the Lai-san and Midway Islands) and Atlantic (Trinidad Island) oceans.At their nesting habitats (Hawaiian Islands), these frigates appear at the end of December and at first lead an inactive lifestyle. They either sit quietly on the bushes at this time, or soar high above the island. From the end of January, adult birds begin to drag branches for the nest, while they often steal building material from other birds. In February, the laying of eggs begins (always one), which different birds occurs at different times, so that the nesting period extends to late summer. Chicks hatch after about 41 days of incubation, naked, later dressed in white down. Young birds can be seen in the nests in mid-June of different ages... The death of chicks is great, as adult frigates eat even fully fledged chicks from other people's nests. Already fledged young frigates also rob on the nests and, sometimes, kidnap the downy cocks of terns and devour them up to 8-10 pieces a day. In the daytime, frigates can often be seen suddenly descending to a lake with fresh water and gaining a full beak of water. The frigates resting after feeding on the bushes are very trusting and let a person close to them. At this time, they have so many fish in their stomachs that, frightened, they must regurgitate it before taking off. The researcher of the fauna of the Hawaiian Islands Manro writes that he was able to collect in the colony of frigates the flying fish regurgitated in this way, which were completely intact and could be used for scientific collections.

Small frigate / Fregata ariel

A small frigate which, despite its name, is not inferior to a large one in wingspan, although it has a shorter body. In color, it is characterized by white spots on the sides of the body. Breeds on islands in the tropical zone of the Indian Ocean, in the west of the Pacific, in the Atlantic - on Trinidad and the island of Martin Vas.

 

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