Editing Frigatebird (section)

==Taxonomy==

===Etymology===
The term ''Frigate Bird'' itself was used in 1738 by the English naturalist and illustrator [[Eleazar Albin]] in his ''A Natural History of the Birds''. The book included an illustration of the male bird showing the red [[gular pouch]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Albin | first=Eleazar | author-link=Eleazar Albin | year=1738 | title=A Natural History of the Birds | volume= 3 | page=75 and plate 80 on previous page | url=http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/dms/load/img/?PPN=PPN469884460&DMDID=DMDLOG_0162&LOGID=LOG_0162&PHYSID=PHYS_0170 | place=London | publisher=Printed for the author and sold by William Innys }}</ref> Like the genus name, the English term is derived from the French mariners' name for the bird ''la frégate''—a [[frigate]] or fast warship.<ref>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London, United Kingdom | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n164 164]}}</ref> The etymology was mentioned by French naturalist [[Jean-Baptiste Du Tertre]] when describing the bird in 1667.<ref name=tertre>{{cite book | last=du Tertre | first=du Jean-Baptiste | author-link=Jean-Baptiste Du Tertre | year=1667 | title=Histoire générale des Antilles habitées par les François | volume=2 | publisher=Thomas Joly | place=Paris | language=fr | page=269, Plate p. 246 | url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k114021k/f297.image }}</ref>{{efn|Du Tertre wrote: "Loyseau que les habitans des Indes appellent ''Fregate'' (à cause de la vistesse de son vol) n'a pas le corp plus gros qu'une poule&nbsp;..." ("The bird that the inhabitants of the Indies call "frigate" (because of the speed of its flight) has a body no larger than a chicken's.")<ref name=tertre/>}}
Alternative names and spellings include "frigate bird", "frigate-bird", "frigate", "frigate-petrel".<ref name="SOED">{{cite book|title = Shorter Oxford English Dictionary|date =2007|location = Oxford, UK|isbn = 978-0-19-920687-2|publisher = Oxford University Press}}</ref>

[[Christopher Columbus]] encountered frigatebirds when passing the [[Cape Verde Islands]] on his first voyage across the Atlantic in 1492. In his journal entry for 29 September he used the word ''rabiforçado'', modern Spanish ''rabihorcado'' or forktail.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Hartog | first=J.C. den | year=1993 | title=An early note on the occurrence of the Magnificent Frigate Bird, ''Fregata magnificens'' Mathews, 1914, in the Cape Verde Islands: Columbus as an ornithologist | journal=Zoologische Mededelingen | volume=67 | pages=361–64 | url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/149308 }}</ref><ref name=dunn>{{ cite book | last1=Dunn | first1=Oliver | last2=Kelley | first2=James E. Jr | year=1989 | title=The Diario of Christopher Columbus's First Voyage to America, 1492–1493| publisher=University of Oklahoma Press | place=Norman, Oklahoma | isbn=0-8061-2384-2 | page=[https://archive.org/details/diarioofchristop00colu/page/45 45] | url=https://archive.org/details/diarioofchristop00colu | url-access=registration }}</ref>{{efn|Columbus's journal survives in a version recorded by Bartholomé de las Casas in the 1530s. In English the entry reads: "They saw a bird that is called a frigatebird, which makes the boobies throw up what they eat in order to eat it herself, and she does not sustain herself on anything else. It is a seabird, but does not alight on the sea nor depart from land 20 leagues. There are many of these on the islands of Cape Verde."<ref name=dunn/>}} In the Caribbean frigatebirds were called Man-of-War birds by English mariners. This name was used by the English explorer [[William Dampier]] in his book ''An Account of a New Voyage Around the World'' published in 1697:<ref name=dampier>{{cite book | last=Dampier | first=James | author-link=William Dampier | year=1699 | orig-year=1697 | title=An Account of a New Voyage Around the World | publisher=James Knapton | place=London, United Kingdom | page=[https://archive.org/details/anewvoyageround01knapgoog/page/n77 49] | url=https://archive.org/details/anewvoyageround01knapgoog }}</ref>
<blockquote>The Man-of-War (as it is called by the English) is about the bigness of a Kite, and in shape like it, but black; and the neck is red. It lives on Fish yet never lights on the water, but soars aloft like a Kite, and when it sees its prey, it flys down head foremost to the Waters edge, very swiftly takes its prey out of the Sea with his Bill, and immediately mounts again as swiftly; never touching the Water with his Bill. His Wings are very long; his feet are like other Land-fowl, and he builds on Trees, where he finds any; but where they are wanting on the ground.<ref name=dampier/></blockquote>

===Classification===
Frigatebirds were grouped with [[cormorant]]s, and [[Sulidae|sulids]] ([[gannet]]s and [[booby|boobies]]) as well as pelicans in the [[genus]] ''Pelecanus'' by [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] in 1758 in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]''. He described the distinguishing characteristics as a straight bill hooked at the tip, linear nostrils, a bare face, and fully webbed feet.<ref name="linnaeus">{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carolus | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | title=Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata |location=Holmiae|publisher=Laurentii Salvii| year=1758| volume=1 | language = la |quote = Rostrum edentulum, rectum: apice adunco, unguiculato. Nares lineares. Facies nuda. Pedes digitís omnibus palmatis. |pages=132–34|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727037}}</ref> The genus ''Fregata'' was introduced by French naturalist [[Bernard Germain de Lacépède]] in 1799.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Lacépède | first=Bernard Germain de | author-link=Bernard Germain de Lacépède | year=1799 | title=Discours d'ouverture et de clôture du cours d'histoire naturelle | chapter=Tableau des sous-classes, divisions, sous-division, ordres et genres des oiseux | language=fr | publisher=Plassan | place=Paris | page=15 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6uhAAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA89 }} Page numbering starts at one for each of the three sections.</ref> The [[type species]] was designated as the Ascension frigatebird by French zoologist [[François Marie Daudin]] in 1802.<ref>{{ cite book | last1=Lacépède  | first1=Bernard Germain de | author1-link=Bernard Germain de Lacépède | last2=Daudin | first2=François Marie | author2-link=François Marie Daudin | chapter=Tableau des sous-classes, divisions, sous-divisions, ordres et genres des oiseaux, par le Cen Lacépède; avec l'indication de toutes les espèces décrites par Buffon, et leur distribution dans chacun des genres, par F. M. Daudin | date=1799 | language=French | editor-last=Buffon | editor-first=Georges-Louis Leclerc de | editor-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon | title=Histoire Naturelle par Buffon Dédiée au citoyen Lacépède, membre de l'Institut National | volume=14: Quadrupedes | location=Paris | publisher=P. Didot l'ainé et Firmin Didot | pages=197–346 [317] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42033567 }} Although the date of 1799 is printed on the title page, this volume was not published until 1802. For a discussion of the date see: {{ cite journal | last=Richmond | first=Charles W. | author-link=Charles Wallace Richmond | date=1899 | title=On the date of Lacépède's 'Tableaux' | journal=Auk | volume=16 | issue=4 | pages=325–329 | doi=10.2307/4069359 | jstor=4069359 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15935570 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=159 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108799 }}</ref> [[Louis Pierre Vieillot]] described the genus name ''Tachypetes'' in 1816 for the [[great frigatebird]]. The genus name ''Atagen'' had been coined by German naturalist [[Paul Möhring]] in 1752, though this has no validity as it predates the official beginning of [[Linnaean taxonomy]].<ref name="AFD2">{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/science-and-research/abrs/databases-and-online-resources/taxa/FREGATIDAE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207221612/http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/science-and-research/abrs/databases-and-online-resources/taxa/FREGATIDAE|archive-date=2014-12-07 |title=Family Fregatidae Degland & Gerbe, 1867 |last=Australian Biological Resources Study|date=26 August 2014 |work=Australian Faunal Directory|publisher=Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government|access-date=30 November 2014|location=Canberra, Australian Capital Territory}}</ref>

In 1874, English zoologist [[Alfred Henry Garrod]] published a study where he had examined various groups of birds and recorded which muscles of a selected group of five{{efn|1=ambiens, fermorocaudal, accessory femorocaudal, semitendinosus, and accessory tendinosus<ref name="garrod 1874"/>}}  they possessed or lacked. Noting that the muscle patterns were different among the steganopodes (classical [[Pelecaniformes]]), he resolved that there were divergent lineages in the group that should be in separate [[Family (biology)|families]], including frigatebirds in their own family Fregatidae.<ref name="garrod 1874">{{cite journal|last=Garrod|first=Alfred Henry|date=1874|title=On certain muscles of birds and their value in classification|journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London|volume=42|issue=1|pages=111–23|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28502198|doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1874.tb02459.x}}</ref> Urless N. Lanham observed in 1947 that frigatebirds bore some skeletal characteristics more in common with [[Procellariiformes]] than Pelecaniformes, though concluded they still belonged in the latter group (as suborder Fregatae), albeit as an early offshoot.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lanham, Urless N. |journal=The Auk | volume=64|issue=1|pages=65–70 |year=1947|title= Notes on the phylogeny of the Pelecaniformes |url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v064n01/p0065-p0070.pdf |doi=10.2307/4080063|jstor=4080063 }}</ref> Martyn Kennedy and colleagues derived a [[cladogram]] based on behavioural characteristics of the traditional Pelecaniformes, calculating the frigatebirds to be more divergent than pelicans from a core group of gannets, [[darters]] and cormorants, and [[tropicbirds]] the most distant lineage.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kennedy|first=Martyn |author2=Spencer, Hamish G. |author3=Gray, Russell D.|date=1996|title=Hop, step and gape: do the social displays of the Pelecaniformes reflect phylogeny?|journal=Animal Behaviour|volume=51|issue=2|pages=273–91|url=http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/biology/jbasil/documents/Pelicanslecture2.pdf | doi=10.1006/anbe.1996.0028|s2cid=53202305 }}</ref> The classification of this group as the traditional Pelecaniformes, united by feet that are [[Bird feet and legs#Webbing and lobation|totipalmate]] (with all four toes linked by webbing) and the presence of a gular pouch, persisted until the early 1990s.<ref name="Hedges94">{{cite journal|author1=Hedges, S. Blair |author2=Sibley, Charles G. |year=1994|title=Molecules vs. morphology in avian evolution: the case of the "pelecaniform" birds|journal=PNAS|volume=91|issue=21|pages=9861–65|doi=10.1073/pnas.91.21.9861|pmid=7937906 |pmc=44917|bibcode=1994PNAS...91.9861H |doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[DNA–DNA hybridization]] studies of [[Charles Sibley]] and [[Jon Edward Ahlquist]] placed the frigatebirds in a lineage with [[penguin]]s, [[loon]]s, [[petrel]]s and [[albatross]]es.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sibley|first=Charles Gald|author2=Ahlquist, Jon Edward|title=Phylogeny and classification of birds|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven, Connecticut|date=1990|isbn=978-0-300-04085-2}}</ref> Subsequent genetic studies place the frigatebirds as a [[sister group]] to the group [[Suloidea]], which comprises the gannets and boobies, cormorants and darters.<ref name = "Hackett2008">{{cite journal| last1 =  Hackett| first1 = Shannon J.| last2 = Kimball | first2 = Rebecca T.| last3 = Reddy | first3 = Sushma| last4 = Bowie | first4 = Rauri C. K.| last5 = Braun | first5 = Edward L.| last6 = Braun | first6 = Michael J.| last7 = Chojnowski | first7 = Jena L.| last8 = Cox | first8 = W. Andrew| last9 = Han | first9 = Kin-Lan| last10 =  Harshman | first10 =  John| last11 =  Huddleston | first11 =  Christopher J.| last12 =  Marks | first12 =  Ben D.| last13 =  Miglia | first13 =  Kathleen J.| last14 =  Moore | first14 =  William S.| last15 =  Sheldon | first15 =  Frederick H.| last16 =  Steadman | first16 =  David W.| last17 =  Witt | first17 =  Christopher C.| last18 =  Yuri | first18 =  Tamaki | title = A phylogenomic study of birds reveals their evolutionary history| journal = Science| date = 2008| volume = 320| issue = 5884| pages = 1763–68| doi = 10.1126/science.1157704| pmid =  18583609| bibcode = 2008Sci...320.1763H| s2cid = 6472805| url = http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/320/5884/1763}}</ref><ref name=smith/> Microscopic analysis of eggshell structure by Konstantin Mikhailov in 1995 found that the eggshells of frigatebirds resembled those of other Pelecaniformes in having a covering of thick microglobular material over the crystalline shells.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mikhailov |first=Konstantin E. |title=Eggshell structure in the shoebill and pelecaniform birds: comparison with hamerkop, herons, ibises and storks |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |year=1995 |issue=9 |volume=73 |pages= 1754–70 |doi=10.1139/z95-207}}</ref>

Molecular studies have consistently shown that [[pelican]]s, the namesake family of the Pelecaniformes, are actually more closely related to [[heron]]s, [[Threskiornithidae|ibises and spoonbills]], the [[hamerkop]] and the [[shoebill]] than to the remaining species. In recognition of this, the [[order (biology)|order]] comprising the frigatebirds and Suloidea was renamed [[Suliformes]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite journal| last1=Chesser  | first1=R. Terry  | last2=Banks | first2=Richard C. | last3=Barker | first3=F. Keith  | last4=Cicero | first4=Carla  | last5=Dunn | first5=Jon L. | last6=Kratter | first6=Andrew W. | last7=Lovette | first7=Irby J. | last8=Rasmussen | first8=Pamela C. | last9=Remsen  | first9=J.V. Jr | last10=Rising | first10=James D. | last11=Stotz  | first11=Douglas F. | last12=Winker  | first12=Kevin | year=2010 | title=Fifty-First Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds |journal=The Auk |volume=127 | issue= 3 |pages= 726–44|doi=10.1525/auk.2010.127.3.726| s2cid=86363169 | url=https://zenodo.org/record/1236285 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/updates/archives/taxonomy-version-2/|title=Taxonomy Version 2|work=IOC World Bird List: Taxonomy Updates – v2.6 (23 October 2010) |year=2010|access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref>

In 1994, the family name Fregatidae, cited as described in 1867 by French naturalists [[Côme-Damien Degland]] and [[Zéphirin Gerbe]], was [[Conserved name|conserved]] under Article 40(b) of the [[International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]] in preference to the 1840 description Tachypetidae by [[Johann Friedrich von Brandt]]. This was because the genus names ''Atagen'' and ''Tachypetes'' had been [[Synonym (taxonomy)|synonymised]] with ''Fregata'' before 1961, resulting in the aligning of family and genus names.<ref>{{cite book | last=Bock | first=Walter J. | year=1994 | title=History and nomenclature of avian family-group names | series=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History Issue 222 | pages=131, 166 | hdl=2246/830 }}</ref>

===Fossil record===
[[File:Limnofregata azygosternon.jpg|thumb|right|Fossil of Eocene species ''Limnofregata azygosternon'']]
The [[Eocene]] frigatebird genus ''[[Limnofregata]]'' comprises birds whose fossil remains were recovered from prehistoric freshwater environments, unlike the marine preferences of their modern-day relatives. They had shorter less-hooked bills and longer legs, and longer slit-like nasal openings.<ref name="mayr">{{cite book |last=Mayr |first=Gerald |title=Paleogene Fossil Birds |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |location=New York|date=2009 |pages=63–64 |isbn=978-3-540-89628-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_TB72RBLLMC&q=Limnofregata&pg=PA63}}</ref><!-- cites previous two sentences --> Three species have been described from fossil deposits in the western United States, two—''L. azygosternon'' and ''L. hasegawai''—from the [[Green River Formation]] (48–52 million years old) and one—''L. hutchisoni''—from the [[Wasatch Formation]] (between 53 and 55 million years of age).<ref name="stidham">{{cite journal|last=Stidham|first=Thomas A.| year=2014 |title=A new species of ''Limnofregata'' (Pelecaniformes: Fregatidae) from the Early Eocene Wasatch Formation of Wyoming: implications for palaeoecology and palaeobiology | journal=Palaeontology | pages=1–11|doi=10.1111/pala.12134 | volume=58|issue=2|s2cid=85200173 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Fossil material indistinguishable from living species dating to the [[Pleistocene]] and [[Holocene]] has been recovered from [[Ascension Island]] (for ''F. aquila''),<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ashmole | first=Nelson Philip |year=1963|title= Sub-fossil bird remains on Ascension Island | journal=Ibis | volume= 103 | issue=3 | pages=382–89 | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1963.tb06761.x }}</ref> [[Saint Helena|Saint Helena Island]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Olson | first=Storrs L. |year= 1975|title= Paleornithology of St. Helena Island, South Atlantic Ocean | journal=Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology | volume= 23 | issue=23 | pages= 1–49 | url=http://www.sil.si.edu/smithsoniancontributions/paleobiology/pdf_lo/SCtP-0023.pdf | doi=10.5479/si.00810266.23.1}}</ref> both in the southern Atlantic Ocean, and also from various islands in the Pacific Ocean (for ''F. minor'' and ''F. ariel'').<ref>{{cite journal|last=James | first=Helen F.  |year=1987|title= A late Pleistocene avifauna from the island of Oahu, Hawaiian Islands |journal=Documents des Laboratories de Géologie, Lyon|volume= 99| pages=221–30 | url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/11424/vz_james-87-documlabgeollyon-pleistocene_oahu.pdf?sequence=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Steadman |first=David W. |year=2006 |title=Extinction and biogeography of tropical Pacific birds |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago, Illinois |isbn=978-0-226-77142-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBZXJQ3HDg0C&q=fregata}}</ref> A [[tarsometatarsus]] and [[pedal phalanx]] from the [[Lower Eocene]] [[London Clay]] of the [[Walton-on-the-Naze]] resembles ''Limnofregata'', but being notably larger and distinct in other ways, was tentatively referred to ''Marinavis longirostris'' due to similar stratigraphy, geography, size, and presumed frigatebird affinities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mayr |first1=Gerald |last2=Kitchener |first2=Andrew |date=2024 |title=A large frigatebird-like tarsometatarsus from the London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK) may shed light on the affinities of a poorly known early Eocene seabird taxon |url=https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app011692024.html |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=69 |doi=10.4202/app.01169.2024|doi-access=free }}</ref>

A [[cladistics|cladistic]] study of the skeletal and bone morphology of the classical Pelecaniformes and relatives found that the frigatebirds formed a [[clade]] with ''Limnofregata''. Birds of the two genera have 15 [[cervical vertebrae]], unlike almost all other [[Ciconiiformes]], Suliformes and Pelecaniformes, which have 17. The age of ''Limnofregata'' indicates that these lineages had separated by the Eocene.<ref name=smith>{{cite journal | last= Smith | first= Nathan D. | year=2010 | title= Phylogenetic analysis of Pelecaniformes (Aves) based on osteological data: Implications for waterbird phylogeny and fossil calibration studies | journal= PLOS ONE | volume=5 | issue = 10 | page= e13354 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0013354 | pmid=20976229 | pmc=2954798| bibcode= 2010PLoSO...513354S | doi-access= free }}</ref><!-- cites previous 4 sentences --><!-- {{cite journal | last1=Kennedy | first1=Martyn | last2=Spencer | first2=Hamish G. | year=2004 | title=Phylogenies of the frigatebirds (Fregatidae) and tropicbirds (Phaethonidae), two divergent groups of the traditional order Pelecaniformes, inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=31 | issue=1 | pages=31–38 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.007 | pmid=15019606}} -->

===Living species and infrageneric classification===
{{Cladogram|title=Frigatebird phylogeny<ref name=kennedy04/>
|caption=
|align=right
|cladogram={{Clade| style=font-size:90%;line-height:100%;width:400px;
   |1={{clade
      |1=[[Lesser frigatebird]] (''Fregata ariel'')
      |2={{clade
         |1={{clade
            |1=[[Christmas frigatebird]] (''Fregata andrewsi'')
            |2=[[Great frigatebird]] (''Fregata minor'')
            }}
         |2={{clade
            |1=[[Ascension frigatebird]] (''Fregata aquila'')
            |2=[[Magnificent frigatebird]] (''Fregata magnificens'')
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}
The [[type species]] of the genus is the  [[Ascension frigatebird]] (''Fregata aquila'').<ref name="AFD">{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/science-and-research/abrs/databases-and-online-resources/taxa/Fregata|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205002927/http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/science-and-research/abrs/databases-and-online-resources/taxa/Fregata|archive-date=2014-12-05 |title=Genus ''Fregata'' Lacépède, 1799 |last=Australian Biological Resources Study|date=29 July 2014 |work=Australian Faunal Directory|publisher=Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government|access-date=30 November 2014|location=Canberra, Australian Capital Territory}}</ref> For many years, the consensus was to recognise only two species of frigatebird, with larger birds as ''F. aquila'' and smaller as ''F. ariel''. In 1914 the Australian ornithologist [[Gregory Mathews]] delineated five species, which remain valid.<ref name=kennedy04>{{cite journal | last1=Kennedy | first1=Martyn | last2=Spencer | first2=Hamish G. | year=2004 | title=Phylogenies of the frigatebirds (Fregatidae) and tropicbirds (Phaethonidae), two divergent groups of the traditional order Pelecaniformes, inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=31 | issue=1 | pages=31–38 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.007 | pmid=15019606}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Mathews | first=Gregory M. | author-link=Gregory Mathews | year=1914 | title=On the species and subspecies of the genus ''Fregata'' | journal=Australian Avian Record | volume=2 | issue=6 | pages=117–21 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34804723 }}</ref> Analysis of [[Ribosomal DNA|ribosomal]] and [[mitochondrial DNA]] indicated that the five species had diverged from a common ancestor only recently—as little as 1.5 million years ago. There are two species pairs, the great and Christmas Island frigatebirds, and the magnificent and Ascension frigatebirds, while the fifth species, the lesser frigatebird, is an early offshoot of the common ancestor of the other four species.<ref name=kennedy04/> Two subspecies of the magnificent, three subspecies of the lesser and five subspecies of the great frigatebird are recognised.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Storks, frigatebirds, boobies, darters, cormorants – IOC World Bird List |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/storks/ |access-date=2022-05-09 |language=en-US}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
| style="background:#d3d3a4; text-align:center;" colspan="4"|'''Living species of frigatebirds'''
|-
! Common and binomial names
! class="unsortable"| Image
! Description
! Range
|-
| [[Magnificent frigatebird]]<br />(''Fregata magnificens'')<br /><small>[[Gregory Mathews|Mathews]], 1914</small>
| [[File:Fregata magnificens -Galapagos, Ecuador -male-8 (1).jpg|120px]]
| With a body length of {{convert|89|-|114|cm|in|abbr=on}}, it is the largest species and has the longest bill. The adult male is all-black with a scarlet [[throat pouch]] that is inflated like a balloon in the breeding season. Although the feathers are black, the scapular feathers have a purple sheen, in contrast to the male [[great frigatebird]]'s green sheen. The female is brownish-black, but has a white breast and lower neck sides, a brown band on the wings, and a blueish-grey  eye-ring.<ref name=hbwmagnificens>{{cite book | last1=Orta | first1=Jaume | last2=Christie | first2=D.A. | last3=Garcia | first3=E.F.J. | last4=Boesman | first4=P. | year=2020 | chapter=Magnificent Frigatebird (''Fregata magnificens'') | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=Sargatal | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | doi=10.2173/bow.magfri.01 | s2cid=216360730 | place=Barcelona, Spain | chapter-url=http://www.hbw.com/node/52669 | access-date=27 May 2015 }}{{subscription required}}</ref>
| Widespread in the tropical [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]], it breeds in [[bird colony|colonies]] in trees in [[Florida]], the Caribbean and [[Cape Verde Islands]], as well as along the Pacific coast of the Americas from Mexico to Ecuador, including the [[Galápagos Islands]].<ref name=iucnmagn/>
|-
| [[Ascension frigatebird]]<br />(''Fregata aquila'')<br /><small>([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758)</small>
| [[File:Male Frigatebird with chick Fregata aquila.jpg|120px]]
| Apart from its smaller size, the adult male is very similar to the magnificent frigatebird. The female is brownish black with a rusty brown mantle and chest, and normally lacks any white patches present on the front of female birds of other species. The occasional female observed with a white belly may be breeding before obtaining the full adult plumage.<ref name=hbwaquila>{{cite book | last1=Orta | first1=Jaume | last2=Christie | first2=D.A. | last3=Garcia | first3=E. F. J. | last4=Jutglar | first4=F. | last5=Boesman | first5=P. | year=2020 | chapter=Ascension Frigatebird (''Fregata aquila'') | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=Sargatal | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D. A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | doi=10.2173/bow.asifri1.01 | s2cid=242440790 | place=Barcelona, Spain | chapter-url=http://www.hbw.com/node/52667 | access-date=29 December 2014 }}{{subscription required}}</ref>
| Found on [[Boatswain Bird Island]] just off [[Ascension Island]] in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, having not bred on the main island since the 1800s.<ref name=iucnascension>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Fregata aquila'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22697728A132597828 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697728A132597828.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
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| [[Christmas frigatebird]]<br />(''Fregata andrewsi'')<br /><small>Mathews, 1914</small>
| [[File:Christmas Island Frigatebird.JPG|120px]]
| The adult male is one of the frigatebird species with white on its belly—an egg shaped patch. It is larger with a longer bill than the related great frigatebird. Its upperparts are black with green metallic gloss on the mantle and scapulars. The female has dark upperparts with brown wing bars, a black head with white belly and white collar (sometimes incomplete) around its neck.<ref name=james>{{cite journal|last=James |first=David J. |year=2004 |title=Identification of Christmas Island, Great and Lesser Frigatebirds |journal=BirdingASIA |volume=1 |pages=22–38 |url=http://tanzaniabirds.net/articles/Frigatebird-ID-BirdingAsia.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209090255/http://tanzaniabirds.net/articles/Frigatebird-ID-BirdingAsia.pdf |archive-date=2014-12-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| Breeds only on [[Christmas Island]] in the eastern Indian Ocean.<ref name=iucnxmas>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Fregata andrewsi'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22697742A132599384 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697742A132599384.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
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| [[Great frigatebird]]<br />(''Fregata minor'')<br /><small>([[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]], 1789)</small>
| [[File:Male greater frigate bird displaying crop.jpg|120px]]
| The adult male has black upperparts with green metallic gloss on the mantle and scapulars. It is completely black underneath with subtle brown barring on the axillaries. The upperparts of the female are dark with lighter brown wing bars. Its head is black with a mottled throat and belly. The neck has a white collar.<ref name=james/>
| Found in tropical Indian and Pacific oceans, as well as one colony—[[Trindade and Martim Vaz]]—in the south Atlantic, generally where the water is warmer than {{convert|22|C|F}}, and breeding on islands and atolls with sufficient vegetation to nest in.<ref name=iucngrt/>
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| [[Lesser frigatebird]]<br />(''Fregata ariel'')<br /><small>([[George Robert Gray|G. R.Gray]], 1845)</small>
| [[File:Lesser frigatebird lei.jpg|120px]]
| With a body length of around {{convert|75|cm|in|abbr=on}}, it is the smallest species. The adult male has black upperparts with greenish to purple metallic gloss on the mantle and scapulars, and is black underneath except for bold white axillary spurs. The upperparts of the female are dark with lighter wing bars. The head is black while the belly and the neck collar are white.<ref name=james/>
| Tropical and subtropical waters across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Atlantic race ''trinitatis'' was limited to  [[Trindade (island)|Trindade]], off Eastern Brazil but may now be extinct.<ref name=hbwariel>{{cite book| last1=Orta | first1=Jaume | last2=Garcia | first2=E.F.J. | last3=Kirwan | first3=G.M. | last4=Boesman | first4=P. | chapter=Lesser Frigatebird (''Fregata ariel'') | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | year=2020 | publisher=Lynx Edicions | doi=10.2173/bow.lesfri.01 | s2cid=216239853 | chapter-url=http://www.hbw.com/node/52671  | access-date=30 November 2014 }}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref name=alves>{{cite book | last1=Alves | first1=R.J.V. | last2=da Silva | first2=N.G. | last3=Aguirre-Muñoz | first3=A. | year=2011 | chapter=Return of endemic plant populations on Trindade Island, Brazil, with comments on the fauna | editor1-last=Veitch | editor1-first=CR | editor2-last=Clout | editor2-first=MN | editor3-last=Towns | editor3-first=DR | title=Island invasives: eradication and management : proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives | publisher=IUCN | place=Gland, Switzerland | oclc=770307954 | pages=259–263 | chapter-url=http://www.issg.org/pdf/publications/Island_Invasives/pdfHQprint/3Alves.pdf | access-date=2015-05-27 | archive-date=2016-03-05 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305021259/http://issg.org/pdf/publications/Island_Invasives/pdfHQprint/3Alves.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>
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