Photo: Charles J. Sharp (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons
Frigatebirds
Two frigatebird species nest in Galápagos, the great and the magnificent, and they are the sky’s tyrants: huge wings, forked tails, and a habit of robbing other birds mid-flight. On the ground they look disheveled and walk badly, they cannot swim, and the males inflate a red balloon to win a mate. Here is how to read a colony.
The two species, and how to tell them apart
The magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) reaches a 114 cm wingspan and the great frigatebird (Fregata minor) 105 cm. In the field the reliable tells are behavior and voice. Great frigatebirds travel much farther out to sea, so the ones you see wheeling close over the islands are usually magnificents. Their calls differ too: great frigatebirds gobble like turkeys, magnificents make a drumming sound.
Both species nest in Galápagos, and a few sites host both in the same colony. Cerro Tijeretas on San Cristóbal is one of the few places where the two species share a colony, and North Seymour holds one of the archipelago’s largest populations. Genovesa and Floreana also host colonies.
The red pouch display
The male’s throat pouch inflates into a red balloon each breeding season and he drums on it with his beak, wings spread, until a female lands beside him. The display peaks from March to May on Genovesa and San Cristóbal and gets going from June on North Seymour. It is the single most photographed behavior on those islands, and in person the drumming sounds like a soft heartbeat.
The flight record
Frigatebirds have been tracked staying airborne for 56 days without landing, averaging around 260 miles a day, and they sleep in the air with half a brain at a time. They can cover up to 30 miles without flapping. The catch is that their feathers are not waterproof, so they cannot rest on the sea like every other seabird, which is where the piracy comes in.
The pirate life
Because they cannot land on water, frigatebirds chase boobies and terns until the victim disgorges its catch, then snatch it in mid-air. Guides call it kleptoparasitism and the colony sites explain why: frigatebirds nest next to boobies on North Seymour precisely because the boobies are reliable food couriers.
Parenting that lasts a year
A frigatebird pair raises a single egg, and the care split is a world record. The male tends the nest for about three months, the female for around nine. Incubation runs about 56 days, the chick leaves the nest at roughly 167 days, and the mother keeps feeding it up to a year. That is why colonies show every stage at once: eggs, naked chicks, gangly juveniles and displaying males.
Where and when
- North Seymour: largest colonies, easy trail, pouch display from June.
- Genovesa: Darwin Bay and Prince Philip Steps, display peaks March to May.
- Cerro Tijeretas, San Cristóbal: both species in one colony, walkable from town.
- Floreana: additional nesting sites.
The species are listed as of Least Concern (IUCN, both species) and are protected inside the marine reserve. For the neighbors they rob, see our blue-footed booby page, and for the full bird list our Galápagos birds guide links every species. The wildlife calendar shows which colonies are displaying in your month.
Last verified: September 2026