Editing Ascension frigatebird

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Male Frigatebird with chick Fregata aquila.jpg 
| image_caption = Male with chick at [[Boatswain Bird Island]]
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{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>
| genus = Fregata
| species = aquila
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| synonyms = *''Pelecanus aquilus'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758}}
| range_map = Fregata aquila map.svg
}}
[[File:Female Frigatebird (Fregata aquila) (8515652014).jpg|thumb|right|Adult female]]
[[File:Ascension Frigatebird female.jpg|thumb|right|Juvenile]]
[[File:Frigatebird chick (Fregata aquila) (8515652212).jpg|thumb|right|Chick]]

The '''Ascension frigatebird''' ('''''Fregata aquila''''') is a seabird of the frigatebird family [[Fregatidae]] which breeds on [[Boatswain Bird Island]] and [[Ascension Island]] in the tropical [[Atlantic Ocean]].

The Ascension frigatebird is a large lightly built seabird with brownish-black plumage and a deeply forked tail. It has a wingspan of around {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The male has a striking red [[gular sac]] which he inflates to attract a mate. The female is slightly larger than the male and has a brown breast-band and sometimes a white belly. They feed on fish taken in flight from the ocean's surface (mostly [[flying fish]]), and sometimes indulge in [[kleptoparasitism]], harassing other birds to force them to regurgitate their food.

==Taxonomy==
The Ascension frigatebird was described by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in his landmark 1758 [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'']] under the [[Binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Pelecanus aquilus''.<ref>{{cite book | last =Linnaeus | first = C | 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. | publisher=Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii | year=1758 | volume = v.1 | language = la | page=133 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727038}}</ref> His specimen had been collected from the Ascension Island by the Swedish explorer [[Pehr Osbeck]].<ref name=mathews>{{cite journal | last=Mathews | first=GM | 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=117–121 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34804723}}</ref>

The names "frigatebird" and ''Fregata'' derive from the French mariners' name for the bird ''La Frégate'', a [[frigate]] or fast warship. The specific ''aquila'' is [[Latin]] for an eagle, and refers to the dark plumage and rapacious habits.''<ref name=job>{{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 | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages= [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n52 52], 164}}</ref>

The genus ''Fregata'' formerly included all four species of large frigatebirds but in 1914 the Australian ornithologist [[Gregory Mathews]] split off the other three species leaving ''Fregata aquila'' to denote the Ascension frigatebird.<ref name=mathews/> An analysis of [[ribosomal]] and [[mitochondrial DNA]] indicates that within the genus ''Fregata'', the Ascension frigatebird is most closely related to the [[magnificent frigatebird]].<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| bibcode=2004MolPE..31...31K }}</ref>

==Description==
The Ascension frigatebird is a dark coloured seabird with long slender pointed wings, a long deeply forked tail and a long hooked bill.  It measures {{convert|89|-|96|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length, has a wingspan of {{convert|196|-|201|cm|in|abbr=on}} and weighs around {{convert|1250|g|lb|abbr=on}}. Male birds are entirely black except for the nape, mantle and scapulars that are covered with elongated lanceolate feathers that have a green metallic sheen. The birds have a striking red gular sack that they inflate to attract a mate. Their bills are pale blueish grey, their eyes are dark brown with a black eye-ring and their legs are grey.<ref name=hbwonline>{{cite book| last1=Orta | first1=J | last2=Christie | first2=DA | last3=Garcia | first3=EFJ | last4=Jutglar | first4=F | last5=Boesman | first5=P | chapter=Ascension Frigatebird (''Fregata aquila'') | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=DA | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | date=2020 | publisher=Lynx Edicions | place=Barcelona | chapter-url=http://www.hbw.com/node/52667}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Female birds are brownish black and lack the green lanceolate feathers. Birds with the more common dark morph have a brown panel on the front that stretches from the collar down to the chest. Their eye-rings and the base of the bill are pale blue. Birds with the pale morph have some white on their chest. It is possible that they are young breeding females that have not yet acquired the full adult plumage.<ref name=hbwonline/>

==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>

==Status==
A census of the Ascension frigatebird population on the islet of Boatswain conducted in 2001–2002 recorded around 6,250 breeding females. As female frigatebirds normally only breed every other year, this implied a total population of 12,500 birds.<ref name=ratcliffe08/> This number is similar to an earlier estimate of between 8,000 and 10,000 birds obtained in a study conducted in 1957–1959.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Stonehouse | first1=Bernard | last2=Stonehouse | first2=Sally | year=1963 | title=The frigatebird ''Fregata aquila'' of Ascension Island | journal=Ibis | volume=103b | issue=3 | pages=409–422 | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1963.tb06763.x }}</ref> The species is classified as "vulnerable" by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] as it breeds on just a single tiny island.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" />

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Wikispecies|Fregata aquila}}
{{Commons|Fregata aquila}}
*[http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3844&m=0 BirdLife International species factsheet]
*[http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/ascension-frigatebird-fregata-aquila Internet Bird Collection: photos, videos and audio recordings]

{{Suliformes}}

{{Taxonbar |from=Q358351}}

[[Category:Fregata|Ascension frigatebird]]
[[Category:Birds of Ascension Island]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758|Ascension frigatebird]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|Ascension frigatebird]]
[[Category:Endemic birds of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha]]