Christmas Frigatebird
| Christmas Frigatebird | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A juvenile Christmas Island Frigatebird photographed at Jakarta Bay, Jakarta, Indonesia | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: | Fregatidae |
| Genus: | Fregata |
| Species: | F. andrewsi |
| Binomial name | |
| Fregata andrewsi Mathews, 1914 | |
The Christmas Frigatebird or Christmas Island Frigatebird (Fregata andrewsi) is a frigatebird endemic to the Christmas Islands in the Indian Ocean. Like other frigatebirds, this species does not walk or swim, but is a very aerial bird which obtains its food by picking up live prey items from beaches or the water surface, and the aerial piracy of other birds.
It is estimated that the population of this species will decline by 80 percent in the next 30 years due to predation of the young by the introduced yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes), which has devastated the wildlife of the island, and has also killed 10–20 million Christmas Island red crabs.
The adult male of this species is easily identified, since it is all black except for a white belly patch. Other plumages resemble those of the smaller Lesser Frigatebird, but have whiter bellies and longer white underwing spurs.
The binomial of this bird commemorates the British palaeontologist Charles William Andrews.
References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2013). "Fregata andrewsi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fregata andrewsi. |
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