Fregata ariel (Lesser frigatebird) 

Kleinfregatvoël [Afrikaans]; Kleine fregatvogel [Dutch]; Frégate ariel [French]; Kleiner fregattvogel [German]; Fragata-pequena [Portuguese]

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class: Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial vertebrates) > Tetrapoda (four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota > Reptilia (reptiles) > Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria > Dinosauria (dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) > Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves (birds) > Order: Ciconiiformes > Family: Fregatidae

Immature Lesser frigatebird, Mozambique channel. [photo Neil Gray ©]	Immature Lesser frigatebird, Mozambique channel. [photo Trevor Hardaker ©]

Distribution and habitat

Occurs across the tropical west-central Pacific and Indian Oceans, extending into the Mozambique Channel with an isolated record off the coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

Food 

It mainly eats flying fish (Exocoetidae) and squid (Cephalopoda).

Breeding

Breeds on islands (including Europa Island in the Mozambique Channel), building a nest on a tree or bush

References

• Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts - Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.