Editing Ascension frigatebird (section)

==Distribution==
The bulk of the Ascension frigatebird population nests on a {{convert|3|ha|acre|adj=on}} plateau on top of [[Boatswain Bird Island]], which lies {{convert|250|m|yd|abbr=on}} off the northeast coast of [[Ascension Island]].<ref name=ratcliffe08/> The species formerly bred on Ascension Island itself, but the colonies were exterminated by feral cats introduced in 1815.<ref name=ratcliffe08>{{cite journal | last1=Ratcliffe | first1=Norman | last2=Pelembe | first2=Tara  | last3=White | first3=Richard | year=2008 | title=Resolving the population status of Ascension Frigatebird ''Fregata aquila'' using a 'virtual ecologist' model | journal=Ibis | volume=150 | issue=2 | pages=300–306 | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.2007.00778.x |url=http://www.ascension-island.gov.ac/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Ratcliffe-Pelembe-White-2008-Resolving-the-population-status-of-Ascension-frigatebird-Fregata-aquila-using-a-virtual-ecologist-model.-Ibis.pdf }}</ref>  A program conducted between 2002 and 2004 successfully eliminated all the feral cats<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Ratcliffe | first1=Norman | last2=Bella | first2=Mike | last3=Pelembe | first3=Tara | last4=Boyle | first4=Dave | last5=Benjamin | first5=Raymond  | last6=White | first6=Richard  | last7=Godley | first7=Brendan  | last8=Stevenson  | first8=Jim  | last9=Sanders | first9=Sarah  | year=2010 | title=The eradication of feral cats from Ascension Island and its subsequent recolonization by seabirds | journal=Oryx  | volume=44 | issue=1 | pages=20–29 | doi=10.1017/S003060530999069X  | doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 | url=http://www.ascension-island.gov.ac/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Ratcliffe-et-al-2009-The-eradication-of-feral-cats-from-Ascension-Island-and-its-subsequent-recolonization-by-seabirds.pdf | doi-access=free }}</ref> and, as a result, two pairs of frigatebirds returned to nest on Ascension Island in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/dec/08/frigatebird-returns-to-ascension |last=McKie |first=Robin |title=Frigatebird returns to nest on Ascension for first time since Darwin |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |date=8 December 2012 |access-date=10 December 2012 }}</ref> In 2014 twelve nests were reported on Letterbox Peninsula at the extreme east end of the island.<ref>{{cite web | last=Fisher | first=Ian | date=23 January 2014  | title=Ascension frigatebird – the return continues | publisher=Royal Society for the Protection of Birds| url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork/b/biodiversity/archive/2014/01/23/ascension-frigatebird-the-return-continues.aspx | access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref>

As with other [[frigatebird]]s, its movements outside the breeding season are little known because of identification problems within this difficult group, but it occurs off West Africa. It feeds on fish and similar surface prey such as small [[turtle]]s.

A juvenile frigatebird found dying in 1953 in [[Tiree]], Scotland was identified at the time as [[magnificent frigatebird]] but the specimen was re-examined in 2002 and found to be an Ascension frigatebird.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Walbridge |first1=Grahame |last2=Small |first2=Brian |last3=McGowan |first3=Robert Y |year=2003 |title=From the Rarities Committee's files: Ascension Frigatebird on Tiree – new to the Western Palearctic  |journal=British Birds |volume=96 |issue=2 |pages=58–73 | url=http://www.bbrc.org.uk/download/Ascension_Frigatebird_on_Tiree_new_to_the_Western_Palearctic.pdf }}</ref> In July 2013 a juvenile was photographed at [[Bowmore]] on the island of [[Islay]] in Scotland.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-23202393 |title=Rare Ascension frigatebird recorded on Islay |publisher=BBC Highlands & Islands |date=7 July 2013 |access-date=11 July 2013}}</ref> In late June 2014 one was tracked by satellite to within 100 nautical miles of the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha, some 200 miles from the South American mainland.<ref>Williams, S. M., S. B. Weber, S. Oppel, E. H. K. Leat, J. Sommerfeld, B. J. Godley, N. Weber, and A. C. Broderick. 2017. "Satellite telemetry reveals the first record of the Ascension Frigatebird (''Fregata aquila'') for the Americas". ''Wilson Journal of Ornithology'' 129:600-604.</ref>