Magnificent Frigatebird

About the Magnificent Frigatebird

Unmistakable in silhouette, the Magnificent Frigatebird is a huge, angular seabird with impossibly long, pointed wings and a deeply forked tail, seeming to hang almost motionless high over the coast. The male is glossy black with a scarlet throat pouch he balloons in display; females show a white breast, and young birds a white head.

Frigatebirds are masters of the air and pirates of the sea, snatching flying fish and squid from the surface and harassing other seabirds to steal their catch. With their light bodies and vast wings, they can soar for hours and even days.

In Texas the Magnificent Frigatebird is a warm-season visitor to the Gulf coast, most often seen soaring over the beaches, jetties, and bays, with numbers rising around tropical weather.

A note from behind the lens: their soaring, high-hanging flight makes for dramatic images against blue sky or storm clouds. Watch the coast on breezy days, track that pterodactyl silhouette, and expose for the sky so the dark bird reads sharp and clean.