Fregata ariel (Gray, GR, 1845)

Le, Hung Manh, Ho, Thang, Le, Trung Nguyen Thoi, Nguyen, Hoa Ngoc & Nguyen, Thach Dang, 2024, New records of birds from Central Vietnam, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 133721-e 133721 : e133721-

Fregata ariel (Gray, GR, 1845)

Fregata ariel (Gray, GR, 1845)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceID: 6DBE7564-D31F-5DED-91EB-77D0332C6C2B; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Chordata; class: Aves; order: Suliformes ; family: Fregatidae ; genus: Fregata ; Location: country: Vietnam; stateProvince: Danang; locality: My Khe ; verbatimElevation: 30 m; verbatimLatitude: 16 ° 06.353 ’ N; verbatimLongitude: 108 ° 15.513 ’ E

Conservation status

Least Concern

Distribution

Lesser Frigate-Bird is a scarce non-breeding offshore visitor species in Vietnam, with the only previous records from Cochinchina ( Robson 2008, Craik and Minh 2018, Hung et al. 2021 b). This is the first confirmed record for the species in Central Annam. Elsewhere, this species has been recorded resident in Australia, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, China, Christmas Island, Comoros, Fiji, French Polynesia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, North Korea, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, United States, Vanuatu, breeding in Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Réunion, Seychelles and non-breeding in Micronesia, northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Timor-Leste, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Djibouti, Eritrea, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Mozambique, New Zealand, Oman and Somalia ( IUCN 2024).

Diagnosis

Size: 71-81 cm.: Overall blackish plumage with prominent whitish patches extending from side of body to inner underwing-coverts diagnostic. Red gular pouch.: Combination of black hood, belly and lower flanks, white remainder of underparts, extending in axillary spur on to inner underwing-coverts.: shows rufous to brownish-white head, black breast-band, triangular white belly-patch. White axillary spur always present, originating from line of breast-band and angled outwards (towards wing- tip). Band across upperwing-coverts buffish, moderately prominent (Fig. 4 )

Figures

Figure 4. The juvenile individuals of Fregata ariel (IEBR B. 501) were photographed in My Khe Beach, Da Nang City.