May 10, 2025

You can click here for more photos of the Frigatebird battle.

The Magnificent Frigatebird is also known as the Man-o-War bird because they harass other birds until they regurgitate recently captured food, which the Frigatebird steals in midair. So it is very appropriate that two Magnificent Frigatebirds recently had an epic fish battle near our boat anchored in Man of War Harbor.

I heard a loud ruckus and looked up to watch the drama unfold. For almost two minutes the birds chased each other. One bird dropped the fish, and then the other bird snatched it up. A couple of times they dropped the fish into the ocean, but managed to pick it back up. In the end, I don’t know who won because they eventually flew away, still battling each other. There were three other Magnificent Frigatebirds watching closely, but they never got involved in the fight.

I read that young frigatebirds learn how to steal food by holding sticks in their mouths and chasing each other. When one of them drops the stick, the other dives below to retrieve it.