Lesser Frigatebird

• It is the smallest of the five frigatebirds, at about 75 cm compared with well over a metre for the great frigatebird.
• Like all frigatebirds, it takes fish in flight from the surface of the sea, often flying fish, without ever settling on the water.
• It was described in 1845 from a specimen collected on Raine Island, in Queensland, under the original name Atagen ariel.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and also off the Atlantic coast of Brazil. It nests in colonies, in low trees or on the ground of remote islands

Birth weight

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Size at birth

Born naked and blind; it depends on its parents for many months

Sexual maturity

5-7 years

Gestation / incubation

~44 days of incubation

Litter / clutch size

A single egg per breeding season, as in the rest of the frigatebirds

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List · Wikipedia (Lesser frigatebird) · Gray 1845

Best time: All year round in tropical and subtropical waters

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.