Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)

Bird in Flight, Strong but Light

September 24, 2022 The feathers of a bird are, for their weight, among the strongest structures in the world. The bones of this Magnificent Frigatebird weigh less than its feathers! To further reduce weight while maintaining strength, many bird bones are fused. In addition, the pectoral and pelvic girdles

Non-Vocalization: Many Ways to Make Noise

February 7, 2022 Many birds have creative ways to make noise without using their voices. Ruffed Grouse use their wings to make echoing booms. Wilson’s Snipes make a high-pitched sound called winnowing as air passes across their tail feathers. Palm Cockatoos swing a stick against a tree to tap out a beat

Magnificent Frigatebird Drum Roll

August 22, 2021 Magnificent Frigatebirds are huge, gangly seabirds found around the warm waters of the Western Hemisphere. When it comes time to mate, males inflate giant red throat sacs, then rattle and drum their bills against them to create jazzy percussive sounds. Today's show brought to you by the

Sleeping on the Wing

January 31, 2021 Some swifts and frigatebirds stay aloft for months. But for a long time, scientists did not know if the birds might be sleeping on the wing. A 2016 study provided answers. Tiny devices attached to the heads of frigatebirds revealed fascinating information: the birds did sleep while aloft

Birds and Navigation

August 16, 2019 The natural world sends us messages if we’re open to receiving them. Ancient navigators put their trust in the birds’ amazing ability to find dry land, no matter how far they were from safe harbor.

Frigatebirds' Kleptoparasitism

March 31, 2019 In the warmer regions of the world’s oceans, large seabirds called boobies plunge headfirst into the water, snatching up fish. But as a booby flies up from the waves with a fish now in its gullet, there may be another big seabird — a frigatebird — with its eye on the booby’s fresh catch

Finding Your Way Home

July 19, 2015 In her book Out of the Woods, Lynn Darling describes an account of way-finding through the thick fog of coastal Greenland. An Inuit hunting party was kayaking close enough to shore to hear breaking waves, but the land was lost in mist. Darling writes: “After hours of steady paddling, the