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Frigate Birds: Grand Cayman
I said on our Wildlife page how much I liked Frigate Birds. How they added a tropical feel to Grand Cayman and how these magnificent creatures soar and swoop around the island shoreline. They’re also known as ‘man o’war birds’, if you’ve ever wondered, and for the most part live in tropical climes. The Cayman variety is the only one that regularly comes this close to North America.
They have the longest wingspan in relation to their body weight of any bird, which gives them their peculiarly ‘pterodactyl-like’ appearance.
This one is a male. You can tell by the all-black feathers and red pouch under the bill, which it puffs up during its courtship display.
Grand Cayman’s species is called the ‘Magnificent’, presumably somewhere in the world there are other types that aren’t so grand. They eat fish, squid or octopus scooped from the sea (or, less magnificently, stolen from other birds). This one scooped an
angler’s fish
from under his rod, which you can see in the lower left corner of the photo.
I also said they look like relics from the dinosaur age — sort of modern pterodactyls, and the next two images are good example of that.
So far as I can tell, they have one big advantage over seagulls — those other hangers-on at
beaches,
coasts and harbors — and that is they don’t make a lot of noise. Despite their size and regular closeness, they’re quiet — as all good neighbors should be.
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Well this page is devoted to just them, starting with this female — they’re the ones with the white breast.
Cayman Pictures
