magneficent frigatebirds

Magnificent Frigatebird Magnificent friagtebirds can be found in the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. These birds can live up to twenty five years. Male Magneficent Frigatebirds are black or slighhtly brown with a red pouch. Females can also be black or slightly brown with a white patch on there underside. Females have a blue eye ring and a brown band on there wing. Both female and male Magnificent Frigatebirds have grey hooked bills. Frigatebirds are carnivores and there diet includes fish, crab, jellyfish, young turtles, and squid. Frigatebirds predators can be humans, big rats, and cats. They nest in flat, hollowed platforms of sticks and twigs. The nests are placed on flat tops of low bushes or trees. Breeding habitats include trees and bushes on dry islands. Male Frigatebirds puff out their red pouch during mating season but only mate with one female per season. Females lay only one or two white eggs every few years. The breeding period of the Magnificent Frigatebird is sometimes long and young frigatebirds are often still being fed by the female at one year of age. The baby bird at first born is weakless and helpless. The male bird leaves its mate and half-grown chick and leaves the breeding colony. The female cares for the young for over a year. The male will leave and try to find another female to breed with. This allows the male to breed each year while the female breeds only every other year. Populations appear to be declining, due mainly to human destruction of habitat for housing and resorts, and disturbance in colonies. Predators on islands and over-fishing are also causing problems. Magnificent Frigatebird spends most of its life flying over the ocean and it rarely if ever lands on the water. Frigatebirds are the only seabirds where the male and female look different. These birds are 1 meter long with a 2.15 meter wingspan and weigh about 1.4 -3.4 pounds.