Christmas frigatebird

Christmas frigatebird
	Male at Jakarta Bay, Indonesia
Conservation status
	; Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
	CITES Appendix I (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Suliformes
Family:	Fregatidae
Genus:	Fregata
Species:	F. andrewsi
Binomial name
	Fregata andrewsi; Mathews, 1914

Last updated October 19, 2024

The Christmas frigatebird (Fregata andrewsi), or Christmas Island frigatebird, is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae which is an endemic breeder to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

The Christmas frigatebird is a large lightly built seabird with brownish-black plumage, long narrow wings and a deeply forked tail. It has a wingspan of around 2.15 m (7.1 ft). The male has an egg shaped white patch on his belly and a striking red gular sac which he inflates to attract a mate. The female is slightly larger than the male and has a white breast and belly. They feed on fish taken in flight from the ocean's surface (mostly flying fish), and sometimes indulge in kleptoparasitism, harassing other birds to force them to regurgitate their food. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Christmas frigatebird was once considered to belong to the species Fregata aquila but in 1914 the Australian ornithologist Gregory Mathews proposed that the Christmas frigatebird should be considered as a separate species with the binomial name Fregata andrewsi in honour of the English paleontogist Charles Andrews.^[3] Of the four other species within the genus Fregata, genetic analysis has shown that the Christmas frigatebird is most closely related to the great frigatebird.^[4]

Description

The Christmas frigatebird measures 89–100 cm (35–39 in) in length, has a wingspan of 205–230 cm (81–91 in) and weighs around 1,550 g (3.42 lb).^[5] The adult male of this species is easily identified, since he is all black except for a white belly patch. Other plumages resemble those of the smaller lesser frigatebird, but have whiter bellies and longer white underwing spurs.

Status

The Christmas frigatebird is endemic to Christmas Island and breeds in only four main nesting colonies. In 2003 there were 1,200 breeding pairs but as frigatebirds normally breed every other year, the total adult population was estimated to be between 3,600 and 7,200 individuals.^[6] The species has a small population and breeds on just one island. It is therefore listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as critically endangered.^[1]

Related Research Articles

Frigatebirds are a family of seabirds called Fregatidae which are found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five extant species are classified in a single genus, Fregata. All have predominantly black plumage, long, deeply forked tails and long hooked bills. Females have white underbellies and males have a distinctive red gular pouch, which they inflate during the breeding season to attract females. Their wings are long and pointed and can span up to 2.3 metres (7.5 ft), the largest wing area to body weight ratio of any bird.

The Ascension frigatebird is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae which breeds on Boatswain Bird Island and Ascension Island in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

The great frigatebird is a large seabird in the frigatebird family. There are major nesting populations in the tropical Pacific Ocean, such as Hawaii and the Galápagos Islands; in the Indian Ocean, colonies can be found in the Seychelles and Mauritius, and there is a tiny population in the South Atlantic, mostly on and around St. Helena and Boatswain Bird Island.

The lesser frigatebird is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. At around 75 cm (30 in) in length, it is the smallest species of frigatebird. It occurs over tropical and subtropical waters across the Indian and Pacific Oceans as well as off the Atlantic coast of Brazil.

The terrestrial fauna of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands is unsurprisingly depauperate, because of the small land area of the islands, their lack of diverse habitats, and their isolation from large land-masses. However, the fauna dependent on marine resources is much richer.

The magnificent frigatebird, frigate petrel or man o' war is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. With a length of 89–114 centimetres and wingspan of 2.17–2.44 m it is the largest species of frigatebird. It occurs over tropical and subtropical waters off America, between northern Mexico and Perú on the Pacific coast and between Florida and southern Brazil along the Atlantic coast. There are also populations on the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific and the Cape Verde islands in the Atlantic. It is one of the fastest birds in the world, flying at speeds of up to 95 miles per hour.

References

1 2 BirdLife International (2022). "Fregata andrewsi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2022: e.T22697742A210923623. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
↑ Mathews, GM (1914). "On the species and subspecies of the genus Fregata". Australian Avian Record. 2 (6): 120 (117–121).
↑ Kennedy, Martyn; Spencer, Hamish G (2004). "Phylogenies of the frigatebirds (Fregatidae) and tropicbirds (Phaethonidae), two divergent groups of the traditional order Pelecaniformes, inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 31 (1): 31–38. Bibcode:2004MolPE..31...31K. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.007. PMID 15019606.
↑ Orta, J; Garcia, EFJ; Kirwan, GM; Boesman, P. "Christmas Frigatebird (Fregata andrewsi)". In del Hoyo, J; Elliott, A; Sargatal, J; Christie, DA; de Juana, E (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 30 November 2014.(subscription required)
↑ James, David J; McAllan, Ian AW (2014). "The birds of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: A review" (PDF). Australian Field Ornithology. 31 (Supplement): S24 Table 3, S64–S67. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2015-05-14.

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[iucn_status_12_November_2021-1] 1 2 BirdLife International (2022). "Fregata andrewsi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2022: e.T22697742A210923623. Retrieved 23 July 2022.

[2] "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.

[3] Mathews, GM (1914). "On the species and subspecies of the genus Fregata". Australian Avian Record. 2 (6): 120 (117–121).

[kennedy04-4] Kennedy, Martyn; Spencer, Hamish G (2004). "Phylogenies of the frigatebirds (Fregatidae) and tropicbirds (Phaethonidae), two divergent groups of the traditional order Pelecaniformes, inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 31 (1): 31–38. Bibcode:2004MolPE..31...31K. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.007. PMID 15019606.

[hbwonline-5] Orta, J; Garcia, EFJ; Kirwan, GM; Boesman, P. "Christmas Frigatebird (Fregata andrewsi)". In del Hoyo, J; Elliott, A; Sargatal, J; Christie, DA; de Juana, E (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 30 November 2014.(subscription required)

[james14-6] James, David J; McAllan, Ian AW (2014). "The birds of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: A review" (PDF). Australian Field Ornithology. 31 (Supplement): S24 Table 3, S64–S67. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2015-05-14.

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