Magnificent Frigatebird

How to find it

Watch fishing boats and harbours, because frigatebirds gather around them to scavenge scraps and fish waste near the shore. Scan the sky as well as the water. A Costa Rican golf course bird guide says you usually see this bird far overhead as a silhouette, so close-up views are unusual. Be patient and keep looking up. Cabo Blanco Absolute Natural Reserve is one place to watch them soaring overhead.

What it sounds like

Recording: stevestevens, CC0 1.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is a bird that lives and feeds in the air. Because its feathers lack enough oil to stay afloat, it hunts on the wing and can pick food from rocks or the water surface without landing.

It is also a thief. It steals food from other seabirds, chasing them until they drop or cough up their catch, which it grabs before it hits the sea.

In Costa Rica, frigatebirds gather around fishing boats and scavenge scraps and fish waste near the shore.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica the Magnificent Frigatebird is seen along the shores and coastal islands of both coasts, so the Pacific and the Caribbean side are both worth scanning. It is a bird of the coast and the sky above it, so look seaward and upward rather than inland.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans use Rabihorcado Magno, Tijereta, Fragata and Zopilote de Mar. Costa Rican iNaturalist uses rabihorcado real, and other Spanish names listed include Ave fragata and Fragata real. Elsewhere in Latin America you may also hear Tijerilla, Rabijunco and Fragata Magnífica, and English speakers sometimes say Man-o'-War Bird.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks the Magnificent Frigatebird as R, a resident species in Costa Rica.

Photography tips

A Costa Rican golf course guide says you usually see this bird far overhead as a silhouette, so close-up views are unusual. Harbours and fishing boats are the likeliest places for a nearer look.