Fregata magnificens  Galapagos, Ecuador  male 8 (1)🐦

Photo: Andrew Turner · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesSuliformesFregatidae
Birds

🐦Magnificent frigatebird

Fregata magnificens Mathews, 1914

The magnificent frigatebird, frigate petrel or man o' war is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. With a length of 89–114 centimetres and wingspan of 2.17–2.44 m, it is the largest species of frigatebird. It occurs over tropical and subtropical waters off America, between northern Mexico and Peru on the Pacific coast and between Florida and southern Brazil along the Atlantic coast. There are also populations on the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific and the Cape Verde islands in the Atlantic. It is one of the fastest birds in the world, flying at speeds of up to 153 kilometres (95 mi) per hour.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Photos
1
Measurements
13
vs you
≈ 1/42nd of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2020.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
1.49 kg
Body length
1.14 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
34 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Magnificent frigatebird

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
1.49 kgrecord 1.67 kg · SeaLifeBase
AVONET
Other figures ↓

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 1.08 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
1.14 mmaximum recorded, total length
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Tail length
0.44 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.64 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.12 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.03 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
34 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
56 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
1
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Carnivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Marine
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Aerial
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
1.5 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Magnificent frigatebird yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderSuliformes
  5. ›familyFregatidae
  6. ›genusFregata
  7. ›speciesFregata magnificens
Full lineage
  1. orderSauria
  2. classBirds · Aves
  3. familyFregatidae
  4. genusFregata
All 11 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
  10. familyFregatidae
  11. genusFregata
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More about the Magnificent frigatebird

In other languages
fregata wielka (pl), fregata magnífica (ca), fregatka vznešená (cs), Pragtfregatfugl (da), Prachtfregattvogel (de), fragata común (es) … and 24 more languages
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