Belize Biodiversity Information System NAME - Magnificent Frigatebird FAMILY - Fregatidae SCIENTIFIC NAME - Fregata magnificens SYNONYMS - Fregata minor magnificens - Mathews, 1914 REFERENCES - 1 National abundance, Conservation or Economic Status Reference Resident, species present all year. 32 Resident, species present all year. 3 Apparently secure in Belize 31 Common: high density, likely to be seen in many places 31 Vulnerable in Belize 5 U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty 26 District Reference Belize 4 Cayo 4 Corozal 9 Stann Creek 24 Administrative Unit Occurrence Temporal Reference Coastal zone, not including cayes. 12 Shipstern Nature Reserve Dry season 9 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 13 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 28 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary 14 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 27 Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary Sighting Dry season 8 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument Sighting Dry season 5 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument Sighting Wet season 19 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument Sighting Wet season 20 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument Collected as voucher 30 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument Accidental 21 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument Permanent 22 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument 11 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument 23 Burdon Canal Nature Reserve Sighting Dry season 7 Northern Lagoon/Southern Lagoon (Prop Sighting Permanent 11 Northern Lagoon/Southern Lagoon (Prop Dry season 15 Private land, see comments Sighting Wet season 16 Private land, see comments Sighting Wet season 17 Government land Collected as voucher 30 Government land Collected as voucher 30 Government land 10 Ambergris Cay 14 Cayes, other; see comments Dry season 15 Cayes, other; see comments Wet season 16 Turneffe Reef Sighting Dry season 18 Turneffe Reef Sighting Permanent 11 Man of War Cay 5 Monkey River Special Development Area 25 Caye Caulker 6 Hydrologic Association Reference New River Lagoon 28 Sibun River 8 Elevation Reference 1-200 m 28 1-200 m 29 1-200 m 30 1:50,000 Quadrangle Reference 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 14 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 00' to 88 15' 6 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 28 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 29 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 4 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 00' to 88 15' 16 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 00' to 88 15' 6 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 29 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 8 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' 7 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 15 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 17 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 7 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 29 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 4 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 29 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 4 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 00' to 88 30' 11 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 00' to 88 30' 15 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 00' to 88 30' 30 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 27 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 24 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 00' to 88 10' 16 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 00' to 88 10' 17 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 00' to 88 10' 30 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 00' to 88 10' 5 16 30' to 16 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 27 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' 9 16 15' to 16 30'; 88 15' to 88 30' 25 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 11 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 19 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 20 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 21 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 22 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 23 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 30 17 15' to 17 30'; 87 45' to 88 00' 11 17 15' to 17 30'; 87 45' to 88 00' 18 17 52'35" to 18 11'30"; 87 49' to 88 03' 14 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 13 Holdridge Life Zone Reference Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 30 Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 29 Subtropical wet 27 Subtropical moist 29 Subtropical moist 28 Marine 30 Marine 23 Marine 22 Marine 21 Marine 20 Marine 19 General Distribution Comments 32* Common mangroves lowlands & coastal beaches. Common cayes inc. Ambergris. 27* Sp. not observed by Kamstra, reported by D.TAYLOR 17* Dangriga, Belize City 16* Caye Chapel; Dangriga 11* Man of War Cay 10* Belize City 3* Common in mangroves and beaches along coast of mainland, common in cayes including Ambergris Cay. References 1 A.O.U. 1983. Checklist of North American Birds. 6th Ed. 2 A.O.U. 1985, 1987, 1989. 35th-37th Supplements. 3 Wood, D.S.,R. C. Leberman, and D. Weyer. 1986. Checklist of Birds of Belize. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication 12. 4 Miller, B. W., 1994. Belize Christmas Bird Counts, Twenty Year Summary. in prep. 5 McRae, E., 1994. The Birds of Belize's Coastal Zone: Species, Distribution, Current Status, Threats to their Well-being, and Potential Measures to Reduce their Impact. Report to NPAMP. 6 McRae, E. 1993. Preliminary Check-list - Birds of Caye Caulker. 7 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1993. Preliminary Avian Survey of Burdon Canal Nature Reserve. Unpublished report for the Forest Department 8 Anon. 1994. Monkey Bay Checklist of Birds. Unpublished list. 9 Meerman, J. 1993. Checklist of the Birds of the Shipstern Nature Reserve, Occasional Papers of the Belize Natural History Society. 2(10). pp. 71-81. 10 McDuffie, P. 1993. Personal Bird List for Belize: September 1, 1989 - December 15, 1993. Unpublished list. 11 Russell, S. M. 1964. A Distributional Study of the Birds of British Honduras. Ornithological Monographs No. 1, A.O.U. 12 Wood, D. S., R. C. Leberman. 1987. Results of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Expeditions to Belize. III. Distributional Notes on the Birds of Belize. Annals Carnegie Museum. 56(6):137-160. 13 Anon. 1994 (August). Working Checklist, Birds of Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area. Unpublished list. 14 Forsythe, D. 1994. Unpublished Belize Trip list June 18-21. 15 Counsell, D.J.R., B. Etheridge. 1986. RAFOS Expedition to Belize. Unpublished report. 16 Hallchurch, T.T., compiler. 1982. Exercise King Vulture Belize 23 Feb.- 16 March. Unpub. report for the British Army Bird Watching Society. 17 Jenkins, P. G. 1982. The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society Belize Expedition, 1981. 80.pp Unpublished report. 18 Platt, S. G. 1994. Checklist of Fauna Recorded During Crocodile Surveys of Turneffe Atoll. Unpub. checklist. 19 Meadows, M. 1982. A Trip to Half Moon Caye 26-30 July, 1982. Belize Audubon Society Bulletin. 14(6):1-2. 20 Miller, C. M., B. W. Miller. 1995. Avian Surveys: Half Moon Caye Natural Monument. Unpublished report for Belize Audubon Society. 21 Salvin, O. 1864. A Fortnight amongst the Sea-birds of British Honduras. Ibis 6:372-387. 22 Pomeroy, C. 1989. Internship Report, Half Moon Caye Natural Monument. Unpublished report for Belize Audubon Society. 23 Cross, W. E. 1992. Half Moon Caye Natural Monument, Belize: Status of Red-footed Booby and Magnificent Frigatebird, December 1991. Unpublished report to Belize Audubon Society. 24 Meerman, J., T. Boomsma. 1995. False Sittee Point, Stann Creek District, Belize. Biological and Physical Survey 1995. p. 19. 25 Meerman, J.C. ed. 1995. Monkey River Special Development Area Stann Creek District, Belize. Belize Tropical Forest Studies Publication #5. Appendix: Bird List. Unpublished Technical report for B.E.S.T. 26 Title 50 Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter B., Part 10.13: List of Migratory Birds. U.S. Government Printing Office: 1985 0-488-794. (Lists all species of migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703-711). 27 Kamstra, J. May 1987. An Ecological Survey of the Cockscomb Basin, Belize. Masters Thesis. York University, Ontario, Canada 28 Vallely, A. C., A. A. Whitman. 1996. The birds of Hill Bank, northern Belize. Unpublished report for Programme for Belize. 29 Miller, B. W. 1997. Belize Christmas Bird Count Summary 1970-1995. Data from American Birds Vol. 28-50 including 1973-1996. 30 Panza, R. 1997. Carnegie Museum, Division of Birds, Holdings of Belize specimens through Jun. 1, 1997. 31 Miller, B.W., C.M. Miller. 1997. Avian Risk Assessment for Belize, Species at Risk and of Conservation Concern. Report to Programme for Belize/TNC Wings of America Program. 32 Garcia, J., S. Matola, M. Meadows, and C. Wright. 1994. A Checklist of the Birds of Belize. WWF-US. 35p.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Ministry of Natural Resources' Land Information Centre
01/19/98