Look up over the bay on any afternoon and there they are, a dozen black crosses drifting on the thermals without a single wingbeat. From the beach they look like kites someone let go of.
Where you’ll see it
Over the water and the beach, all along the coast, and in numbers over the fishing boats in Coco bay when the catch is being cleaned. They roost on islands and headlands and spend the day aloft.
What to know
It is a seabird that cannot swim, which sounds like a design error until you watch it work. Frigatebirds pluck fish and squid from the surface on the wing, and they chase boobies and pelicans until the victim drops or regurgitates its meal, then catch it before it hits the water. The scientific name of the family means pirate, and it is earned. Males inflate a red throat pouch like a balloon in the breeding season.
