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Fregata minor

Kōta‘a Nui*

Great Frigatebird

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Female and Male	25KB
Image:	Courtship (Midway)	48KB
Image:	Juvenile on nest	125KB
Image:	Compare Great and Lesser	25KB
Image:	Similar species: Great & Lesser Frigatebirds	289KB
Video:	Male bird (© TVNZ)	497KB
Article:	Frigatebirds - Our Vulnerable Pirates Gerald McCormack, June 2005	Read

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Great Frigatebird, Greater Frigatebird, Man-of-War Bird, Man-o'-War Bird, Man-o'-War Hawk; German Bindenfregattvogel

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kōta‘a (RR MG AT MK MT AK), Frigate / Kōtaha (PL), Kōtaha Māli / Kōtaha Talakula (TS), Kōtaha Māri / Kōtaha Tarakura (TW), Kōtaha Tarakura / Māri (MH RK), Kotawa / Uyi [Kolokolo Kula] / Umalawa [f] / Ulu yina [juv] (PK NS)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Resident Breeder; Marine, near-shore - pelagic, nest on Land

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Nationally endangered (moderately)Food

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++V	-	-	P	-	-	-	P	-

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-?	-	-	+Vnb	-	P

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Fregata minor (Gmelin, 1789)
SYNONYMS: Pelecanus minor Gmelin, 1789; Pelecanus palmerstoni Gmelin, 1789; Fregata minor palmerstoni (Gmelin, 1789)

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); TETRAPODA; AVES; NEORNITHES; Pelecaniformes; FREGATIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Fregata minor.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM05a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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