Great Frigatebird in Galápagos: Facts and Where to See It

The two Galápagos frigatebirds look very alike: black plumage, and red throat pouches on the males. The surest sign is the sheen on a male's back, green on the great frigatebird and purple on the magnificent. Females of both are larger than the males and have white breasts; young birds have white chests and heads.

• Soaring. The huge wings carry them over the ocean with barely a flap, but on land their short legs make walking nearly impossible.
• Drying out. Their plumage is not waterproof. A wet frigatebird has to dry its feathers in the sun, wings spread like a cormorant, before it can fly.
• Kleptoparasitism. They harass boobies and other birds until they drop their catch, and also take eggs and chicks.

Great frigatebirds forage alone or in pairs and gather when shoals of fish rise to the surface; they also follow fishing boats and haunt ports for scraps. They nest in trees and bushes, sometimes on bare ground. The female builds a platform of sticks that the male brings her; both incubate the single egg and care for the chick, which takes up to four months to fledge and is fed while it learns to hunt.

The Galapagos Conservation Trust names Española, San Cristóbal, Genovesa, Darwin, Wolf and Daphne Major as the places they are seen most.

Guide sighting records list great frigatebirds at 6 sites. 2 are rated Likely, both on Genovesa: Darwin Bay and Prince Philip's Steps. At Darwin Bay, males with inflated red pouches are rated Possible from March to June. North Seymour and Punta Pitt are rated Possible; Isla Lobos and Frigatebird Hill on San Cristóbal Rare.

Great frigatebirds are in Galápagos all year. The guide records place displaying males at Darwin Bay from March to June. In the next twelve months, 226 departures stop there in those months, and 679 stop at a site where great frigatebirds are seen at all.

No, it is listed as Least Concern and protected by the Galápagos National Park. Some populations elsewhere are under pressure from climate change and human disturbance, El Niño may affect survival and breeding, and marine plastic is a possible threat. On Genovesa, park rules keep visitors on the marked trail and at least 2 metres (6 feet) from the birds.

1. Calling every frigatebird great. Check the back of a male: green means great, purple magnificent.
2. Leaving out Genovesa. Both Likely sites are there.
3. Expecting red pouches all year. The guide records place displays at Darwin Bay from March to June.