Frigatebirds – Prince Philip’s Steps – Genovesa Island, Galapagos

I had only seen frigatebirds from the sky when we took an afternoon hike the day before, and one of the guides commented that she found these birds to be one of her favorites.  Looking at them from the sky, I didn’t really understand her fascination with them.  However, that was all to change when I saw them on our hike on the cliffs around Prince Philip’s Steps on Genovesa Island.

Deflated

Ok, so when the male frigatebird’s throat pouch, he’s not really all that impressive, altho I did like the coloring of his feathers.  The female birds (you’ll see one in later blogs, I promise) aren’t impressive at all, as their throats are just a bit white.  But, the males have these red pouches that are used during the mating season to attract the females to the small nest the male has started.

Frigatebird Big Bib

Wow!  This sure does attract attention, and I can now see the guide’s fascination with the frigatebird!  I did call it a bib, but it’s really not – technically, it’s a throat pouch.  And, he sits in his nest all puffed out, hoping a female will look his way.  The females are generally flying around all the males, deciding who to share a nest with!

Frigatebirds

And, the puffed throat alone won’t generally get the girl, so to speak.  So, the males also do a lot of wing flapping to draw the attention of the females to their humble abode!  As you can see, these are some pretty big birds!

Enjoy!