tehag - 1-29-2012 at 08:14 PM
Magnificent frigatebird. Over salt water they are very skillful at minimizing their contact with the surface, harvesting baitfish with an almost
dainty little pickup using just the tip of their bill. In fresh water they splash around like kids in a pool. It is believed that they are ridding
themselves of salt buildup and other foreign stuff that has attached to their feathers. They plow into the water with some force and then rise with
difficulty back into the air, where they shake violently before circling back to do it again.
Bob H - 1-29-2012 at 08:23 PM
Well done~ great series!
Ken Bondy - 1-29-2012 at 09:06 PM
Spectacular tehag!!! I had heard that they never touch the water, they get all their food by stealing it from other birds in the air. Your photos
sure disprove that 
Where were these taken?
Skipjack Joe - 1-29-2012 at 09:35 PM
What a marvelous set of wings they have.
DianaT - 1-29-2012 at 09:45 PM
Not only are these magnificent photos, the information about this bird is really interesting. THANKS
oladulce - 1-30-2012 at 08:09 AM
A dear friend told me if you can't see an obvious red pouch on a Frigate, you call tell a male from a female from a distance cuz a girl will be
wearing a white bra like the girl in tehag's pictures.
(Never know then you'll need some trivia...)
They're called Magnificent but I really hate the shrieks of pain from the poor little terns when Frigates harass them to drop their fish. Sometimes
there's just a lot of squawking, but many times you can tell they made contact by the painful cry. The tip of the Frigate's beak is nasty looking!
When baitfish are close to shore the sounds can go on all day. I've tried yelling "hey, leave em alone" but they don't listen.
Lots of times a Tern will cry out and I'll look up in time to see the Frigate attack, but when the Tern drops his fish the Frigate flies away like he
wasn't even interested in the fish anyway. Maybe Frigates need to practice their piracy techniques in order to survive, but I think some of them are
just bullies.
Ken Bondy - 1-30-2012 at 08:40 AM
Breeding pair:
Natalie Ann - 1-30-2012 at 08:59 AM
Truly outstanding pix, tehag and Ken. Thank you so much!
nena
bajajudy - 1-30-2012 at 09:16 AM
excellent tehag!
I think that the deal is that their wings cannot get in the water because of their size.
Fresh water
tehag - 1-30-2012 at 09:27 AM
Ken, they are bathing in a small body of fresh water near Loreto.