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Information About

Christmas Island Frigatebird




  Name Christmas Island Frigatebird
  Regnum Animal ia
  Phylum Chordata
  Classis Aves
  Ordo Pelecaniformes
  Familia Fregatidae
  Genus ''Fregata''
  Species '''''F andrewsi'''''
  Binomial ''Fregata andrewsi''
  Binomial Authority Mathews , 1914


The Christmas Island frigatebird (''Fregata andrewsi'') is a Frigatebird Endemic to the Christmas Island s in the Indian Ocean . Like other frigatebirds, this species does not walk or swim, but is a very aerial Bird which obtains its food by picking up live prey items from beaches or the water surface, and the aerial piracy of other birds.

It is estimated that the population of this species will decline by 80 percent in the next 30 years due to predation of the young by the Introduced Yellow Crazy Ant s Species (''Anoplolepis gracilipes''), which have devastated the wildlife of the island, and have also killed 10–20 million Christmas Island Red Crab s.

The adult male of this species is easily identified, since it is all black except for a white belly patch. Other plumages resemble those of the smaller Lesser Frigatebird , but have whiter bellies and longer white underwing spurs.