A quick qualification, I do acknowledge that the occasional female Lesser
Frigate can have a blue eye-ring off the east coast but it's not the normal
appearance. So the ID should rest on the shape of the white breast patch
without tabs onto the under-wing and lack of a sharply demarcated hood with
white collar.
Cheers Jeff.
From: Jeff Davies
Sent: Wednesday, 29 February 2012 6:54 PM
To:
Cc: Birding-aus
Subject: RE Birding-Aus] Fwd: Which frigatebird?
G'day Dominic,
The first impression from looking at your bird is a darkish throated female
Great Frigatebird and that's what I think it is. Shifting the levels around
on your two images shows a blue eye-ring and the bird is lacking white tabs
into the underwing, none of this is good for Lesser in the Coral Sea. I
would say that the darkish throat, which is probably the reason for your
caution, is not a problem and within the spectrum for female Great
Frigatebird.
Cheers Jeff Davies.
Forwarded from ID-Frontiers in case any Birding-Aus subscribers wish to
comment:
I guess, seeing as Dominic didn't post it directly here, any thoughts could
be ccd to him as well as to birdingaus - his email address below.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dominic Mitchell <>
Date: 29 February 2012 09:56
Hi all
Back in August 2009 I photographed a frigatebird at Michaelmas Cay in the
Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. At the time I was uncertain as to
whether it was Greater or Lesser, and an experienced Queensland birding
friend also felt unsure about the ID. Having posted about it on my blog I
then solicited opinions on the Seabird-News Google group, but no one there
committed to a firm ID either. If anyone on ID-Frontiers with relevant
experience would be interested in commenting, I'd appreciate the feedback.
Images of the bird can be viewed here:
http://www.birdingetc.com/2011/07/lesser-frigatebird.html.
Thanks in anticipation,
Dominic Mitchell
--
Blog: www.birdingetc.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/birdingetc
Website: www.dominicmitchell.com
Magazine: www.birdwatch.co.uk
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