Ascension Frigatebird on egg Southeast Bay
Date 26 December 2012, 13:12
Source Ascension Frigatebird {Fregata aquila}
Author Drew Avery http://www.flickr.com/people/33590535@N06
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ascension_Frigatebird_(Fregata_aquila)_(8372971602).jpg

The Ascension frigatebird (Fregata aquila) is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae which breeds on Boatswain Bird Island and Ascension Island in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. The Ascension frigatebird was described by Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Pelecanus aquilus. His specimen had been collected from the Ascension Island by the Swedish explorer Pehr Osbeck. The names "frigatebird" and Fregata derive from the French mariners' name for the bird La Frégate, a frigate or fast warship. The specific aquila is Latin for an eagle, and refers to the dark plumage and rapacious habits.
Order: Suliformes
Family: Fregatidae
Genus: Fregata
Species: Fregata aquila (Linnaeus, 1758)