Talk:Great frigatebird
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amusing scientific name[edit]
(Aah its all coming back to me) - now I remember this as having an amusing epithet minor despite it being the Great(er) Frigatebird. Does anyone have a refernce and a reason for this as it is an amusing trivia bit for the lead. (I might have to google this....) cheers, Casliber | talk | contribs 22:45, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
- At a guess it was described at the same as the Magnificent Frigatebird, which is bigger. And then aquired the common name much later. Sabine's Sunbird talk 23:36, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
- Or maybe not. I'll look it up on the BNA website later. Sabine's Sunbird talk 23:43, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
- According to the synonym it was originally in the same genus as the pelicans. I guess the friugatebird was smaller than the pelican, hence minor. Sabine's Sunbird talk 20:31, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
- Yeah, I think that makes most sense. The Magnificent was not described until much later. But it might be good to discuss this in the text; for one thing it is funny, for another - I have seen not a few pre-20th century sources which actually refer to F. minor as the "Lesser" frigatebird, so such a note will help editors to look at their sources closely. Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 20:10, 26 March 2008 (UTC)
- According to the synonym it was originally in the same genus as the pelicans. I guess the friugatebird was smaller than the pelican, hence minor. Sabine's Sunbird talk 20:31, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
- Or maybe not. I'll look it up on the BNA website later. Sabine's Sunbird talk 23:43, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
- At a guess it was described at the same as the Magnificent Frigatebird, which is bigger. And then aquired the common name much later. Sabine's Sunbird talk 23:36, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
deceptive[edit]
Does 'deceptive' have a scientific meaning, or is the opening line of the article trying teach you how crafty the Great Frigatebird can be? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.136.100.138 (talk) 20:56, 28 January 2014 (UTC)
Gular sac[edit]
...Both sexes have a patch of red skin at the throat that is the gular sac; in male great frigatebirds this is inflated in order to attract a mate...
I am not an expert but -after consulting my bibliography-, I think that ONLY males have the patch of red skin at the throat, that later is inflated. The females have grey on skin and throat. Please, check it out! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.65.46.213 (talk) 10:26, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
- I agree, the article is wrong. Brien, RM (1990) here has on page 913: "ADULT FEMALE. ... Lacks inflatable gular pouch, though residual gular patch, light salmon." I'll correct the article when I have time. Aa77zz (talk)
Frigatebirds help in studies[edit]
In December 2023, CBS released a story that the Great Frigatebird is being used to obtain weather measurements during their flight. There are some older stories about how they have been used to study both the weather and the health status of the Frigatebirds, if I'm reading it correctly. Here are some links:
- Great frigatebirds soar to help Bay Area scientists collect climate data (CBS News)
- Tracking Pirates of the Caribbean: An Interview with Dr. Rhiannon Austin (BirdsCaribbean)
- Frigate birds track atmospheric conditions over months-long transoceanic flights Weimersk (Bangor University)
- Cyclone avoidance behaviour by foraging seabirds (Scientific Reports)
I encourage updating this list with any additional pertinent sources or other modifications to this list. Fabrickator (talk) 07:56, 16 December 2023 (UTC)