Fregatidae is a family of birds that is characteristically seabirds. Within the single Fregata genus, you will find 5 species of these birds. These birds have also been given the title Pirate birds. They have a close relationship to the pelicans and many have also called them ‘frigate pelican’. They are birds with quite long wings, bills and tails with the males sporting gular pouch red in color that is usually inflated to attract breeding mates during the breeding season.

The Fregatidae birds are uniquely piscivores, meaning that they obtain food on the wings. Another but smaller diet supplement is got from robbing other kind of sea birds, a unique behavior that gave these birds their family name, characterized by snatching other seabirds’ young chicks. These frigate birds are monogamous in a seasonal arrangement while they usually nest in a colonial way. They usually construct nests on low trees as well as on the earth’s surface, on islands that are rather remote. They lay a single egg during every breeding period. The parent care period among the Fregatidae is the longest among all birds.

Fregatidae hardly swim or walk as desired, while they cannot fly from a surface that is flat. They have one of the largest of all wingspans in relation to the body ratio among all birds, making them rather aerial, meaning that they can stay on air for more than seven days and lands only to breed or roost on cliffs or trees.

Breeding behavior

These birds lay a single white egg or at most two. Both parents share the feeding in the first of three months, while the consecutive eight months have the mother feeding the young chicks alone. Since they take so long to just rear a single chick, these frigate birds hardly breed each and every year. In fact, it is possible to have chicks the size of their parents patiently waiting for the parents to come and feed them.

As they sit for some hours on the shining hot sun, these birds usually assume a posture that is rather energy efficient, where their heads ends up hanging down as they sit very still, that it is possible to think they are dead. After the return of their parents, they also wake up and bob up the heads as they scream incessantly until the parents have opened their mouths. The hungry big chick them plunges the whole head deep down their parent’s throat and directly feeds.

Feeding

The Fregatidae birds get their food through a snatching movement on the ocean’s surface. The feeding habits of the Fregatidae are largely pelagic. They lack the ability to fly from the water surface, where they snatch their own prey from ocean basins, beaches, where they make use of their hooked bills that are quite long. They usually catch baby turtles and fish, as well as other items through this method. The Fregatidae never shy away from robbing other seabirds such as tropic birds, boobies and others, through the use of their high speed.