In a quick review, you learn frigatebirds eat fish. There are excellent resources available, both in print and online ( Birds of North America is an indispensable online resource for the wild bird caregiver). This was the first time I’d ever seen a frigatebird, let alone tried to provide appropriate housing and diet. One of the most important pieces of good wildlife rehabilitation, of course, is knowing the natural history of your patient. I happened to work at that facility, for International Bird Rescue at the Los Angeles Oiled Bird Care and Education Center, part of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network.Īfter going the through the “red tape” of the international border crossing, the bird was sent by jet to us in LA. In port, the local rehabilitators thought it would be best for her to treated closer to her home, at a facility dedicated to aquatic birds. In February 2004, a young frigatebird blown into the Northern Pacific by a storm landed on a vessel bound for Vancouver, British Columbia. More commonly seen in care in Central America, over the last 16 years I’ve had the privilege of providing a frigatebird’s care only twice. (A side benefit of the unfamiliar patient is the sudden need for information that leads a pile of new and interesting facts – for example, ‘Hurricane Bird’ is another of the old names, along with ‘Man o’ War’ and ‘Pirate Bird.’) In 1988, there were records of frigatebird sightings all over the midwest and Great Lakes regions in the wake of Hurricane Gilbert. Less than 2000 grams – more sail, it seems, than bird.įor those of us in North America other than the Gulf coast, the only time we might see a Magnificent Frigatebird is after a storm. In an aviary, I watched as a young bird regaining strength turned on her perch and faced the offshore breeze, spread her nine foot wingspan, and simply lifted from her perch, more levitation than powered flight. Just saying the name aloud gives a hint of the sensation of their floating flight.
Magnificent Frigatebird ( Fregata magnificens). This may have also helped us accomplish our daily tasks without swooning every time the name was said. So we used MAFR, the American Ornithological Union’s 4-letter code.
The species name is long enough to be the middle line of a formal English haiku. Today’s Guest Post is written by Monte Merrick, wildlife rehabilitator and co-director of the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center/bird ally x in Arcata, CA.
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