Pirates of the Caribbean… Atlantic… Pacific…

Frigate comes from a 16th century French or Italian name for a light, fast boat. Later the term was used to describe a fast, armament laden ship… the preferred vessel of the feared pirates. With a wingspan of over 7 feet and weighing in at only a little over 3 pounds, Frigatebirds are light and fast as well. However, their name is derived more from their piratic behavior… they steal their food from other birds.

This series of images was taken in the Galapagos Islands. A recent thread on the Birdchat Listserv reminded me of this interesting interaction between a female Magnificent Frigatebird and a Nazca Booby… and another Magnificent Frigatebird female.
As we watched, the first frigatebird stole the fish from the booby which pestered the frigate for a few seconds in hopes of retrieving its meal. However, as we watch, the first frigate flipped the fish about 20 feet through the air to the other frigate which caught it and flew off well away from the booby!

In the waning light and speed of the action, my initial reaction was that it was a male-female frigatebird team… but after reviewing the images I realized that it was two females that worked as a team! Not what I would have expected.


You can view more images of frigatebirds and the galapagos by clicking one of the labels below.