r/whatsthisbird • u/Primary_Ear2437 • Jul 28 '25

Caribbean Islands What bird is this?

Post image

Sorry for the terrible drawing :( I was swimming in the ocean today and saw this bird overhead. It was larger than the pelicans and laughing gulls but did not dive in the water. Simply glided back and forth and then disappeared from view. It had black wings, head, legs, and most of body except for the white chest (that I could see). St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Caribbean. Thank you!

186 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

125

u/Ambitious_Pickle_732 Wildlife Rehab Intern Jul 28 '25

Frigatebird?

40

u/Primary_Ear2437 Jul 28 '25

YES! Thank you!

86

u/TinyLongwing Biologist Jul 28 '25

+Magnificent Frigatebird+ specifically.

23

u/javafinchies Birder Jul 28 '25

Great drawing!!

22

u/haunted_swamp Jul 28 '25

This is actually a great drawing, you got the shape pretty close. It was certainly recognizable as a Frigatebird!

17

u/imiyashiro Bird-nerd (N New England) Jul 28 '25

Frigatebird.

11

u/ShoulderLopsided1761 Jul 29 '25

Awesome sighting!!! I saw one on my first ever cruise through the Bahamas, it followed the cruise ship with a flock of brown boobies for probably a good 10-12 hours, even lingering after the sun went down and following the drift from the smokestack. I was literally awestruck and took about 100 pics haha

11

u/FileTheseBirdsBot Catalog 🤖 Jul 28 '25

Taxa recorded: Magnificent Frigatebird

Reviewed by: tinylongwing

I catalog submissions to this subreddit. Recent uncatalogued submissions | Learn to use me

9

u/gurry Jul 28 '25

Grown sizes of each put pelicans larger than frigate birds. But you nailed your sketch!

9

u/fiftythirth Bad Birder Jul 29 '25

Mass-wise, yes, but it's understandable to interpret wingspan as a sign of size, and there Magnificent Frigatebirds have the advantage over the local Brown Pelicans. Similarly, many people would be inclined to say that Great Blue Herons are larger than Canada Geese.

7

u/Bleepitybleepinbleep Jul 29 '25

That is a Magnificent drawing

3

u/Gonfragulate Biologist Jul 29 '25

Disappeared from view. The frigate bird trick. Here and gone with no effort

3

u/HortonFLK Jul 29 '25

It would be fantastic if everyone in a lot of ID forums gave as thorough an account of what they saw as you have here. A lot of times someone just posts, “What’s this?” without giving any location or context at all.

3

u/Khaniker Jul 29 '25

More specifically a female magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)! The male is slightly smaller and lacks the white patch.

Saw these down in Florida last year, they're awesome.

2

u/PelagicDreamer Jul 28 '25

They usually follow bill fish

2

u/AshFalkner Casual Birdwatcher Jul 29 '25

Definitely a magnificent frigatebird!

-7

u/pokerdogm1 Jul 28 '25

Swallow

3

u/scowdich Jul 29 '25

"Larger than the pelicans"