Sick of reading about inflation? Read about inflatable birds instead
The Magnificent Frigatebird's inflatable red throat pouches are a sight to behold!
Inflation got you seeing red?
Here’s a quick serotonin boost: reading about the Magnificent Frigatebirds (who are both inflatable, and red!)
They sure live up to their names: magnificent! (But I could be biased…)
These birds are truly striking: big, black, and powerful. They are almost 1m tall, and have a wingspan of over 2m. But the thing that makes them the most magnificent has to be their ginormous, inflatable red throat sacs - also known as gular sacs.
Some birds, like the frigatebird and pelican, have an area below their beaks called a gular sac, which serves as a storage place for food. The pouches are featherless, elastic, and tough.
Birds like the frigatebird and pelican can use this to store fish while hunting. You can think of it like a money pouch that you’ll look out for when gold-digging for a rich Singaporean man - the bigger (and healthier) the pouch, the deeper the pockets!
Because females know that big pouch = big money, they have grown to sexually select males with the biggest, healthiest gular sacs. During the breeding season, male Magnificent Frigatebirds inflate their red pouches while making a sort of guttural grunting or drumming sound, to attract a mate. When mating, it takes the male bird about 20 minutes to inflate their pouch. All of this is a sort of display to let females know: “my pouch is huge and in great working condition, and I am an excellent catch! Come have sexy time with me!”
If you’ve got the time, I suggest this 5-minute video which shows how the sacs inflate into comically large balloons!
On the other hand, female frigatebirds only have plain, non-inflatable white underbellies.
The Magnificent Frigatebirds live around the Galapagos Islands, and mate all year round. I hope to be able to see this bizarre mating ritual one day!
Great post and great read, Patricia ¡!
Fun fact: Frigate birds are also known as the pirates of the bird world as they are extremely vicious and agressive with other sea birds. They rob and plunder other sea bird nests, and eat babies and smaller birds !
It was for their shape and their speed that european warships in the 17th - 20th centuries.
Another fun fact:
Even tho they are "Sea birds", they actually can't float or rest on water like Gulls or Pelicans or any other Seabirds would do, because their feathers are not waterproof, so they actually can't swim, nor protect their body temperature !
I love these birds they actually feature in my book hahah !