---
title: "Magnificent Frigatebird"
description: "Fregata magnificens — Birds. The magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens), frigate petrel or man o' war is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/magnificent-frigatebird
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Magnificent Frigatebird

> Fregata magnificens — Birds. The magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens), frigate petrel or man o' war is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae.

- Scientific name: *Fregata magnificens*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 42092
- Wikidata: [Q647512](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q647512)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4631](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4631)

## Names

- en: Magnificent Frigatebird
- de: Prachtfregattvogel
- es: Fragata Tijereta
- fr: Frégate superbe
- nl: Amerikaanse fregatvogel
- pt: Fragata-comum
- pl: Fregata wielka

## Countries with the most observations

MX (15174), US (5710), EC (4112), CR (2635), BR (2632), PA (1630), BZ (949), PR (875), CO (821), DO (470), TT (326), HN (306)

## Summary

The magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens), frigate petrel or man o' war is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. With a length of 89–114 centimetres (2 ft 11 in – 3 ft 9 in) and wingspan of 2.17–2.44 m (7 ft 1 in – 8 ft 0 in), it is the largest species of frigatebird. It occurs over tropical and subtropical waters off America, between northern Mexico and Peru on the Pacific coast and between Florida and southern Brazil along the Atlantic coast. There are also populations on the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific and the Cape Verde islands in the Atlantic. It is one of the fastest birds in the world…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificent_frigatebird

## Photo

![Magnificent Frigatebird](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/magnificent-frigatebird/medium.jpg)

Photo: steve b · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/258500351

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/magnificent-frigatebird?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).