Frigatebird

Unlike most seabirds, frigatebirds are not able to alight on the water.

The oceanic frigatebirds are represented in Australia by three species: the Great and Lesser Frigatebirds and endemic Christmas Island Frigatebird (pictured).

Often called man o' war birds, they are notorious as piratical cleptomaniacs that steal food from other birds at every opportunity. This reputation is justified, but frigatebirds are also capable of an 'honest' living. It would seem that a frigatebird can discriminate between a bird with a full gullet and one which is empty. An unlucky booby or tropicbird may be plucked out of the air, dangled by the tail-tip and shaken until it regurgitates its food, which the frigatebird then makes off with.