Ascension Frigatebird
Fregata aquila (Linnaeus, 1758) (0, 1)
Artwork © By Heinrich von Kittlitz - Kupfertafeln zur Naturgeschichte der Vögel, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20078242
STATUS
Tropical Atlantic Ocean. Monotypic.
OVERVIEW
For 50 years this record stood as a Magnificent Frigatebird, but on closer inspection in 2003 it was realised that it was not of this species and was subsequently identified as an Ascension Frigatebird.
1950-57 RECORD
1). 1953 Argyll Loch a' Phuill, Tiree, first-stage juvenile, female, found exhausted, 9th July, died same day, photo, now at National Museums of Scotland (NMSZ 1953.16).
(A. C. Stephen, Scottish Naturalist 65: 193-194; Eds., British Birds 47: 58-59; E. V. Baxter, Scottish Naturalist 67: 99; BOURC (1956), Ibis 98: 154; J. Morton Boyd, British Birds 51: 46; Thom, 1986; M. J. Rogers and the Rarities Committee, British Birds 86: 454; BOURC (1999), Ibis 141: 176; G. Walbridge, B. Small & R. Y. McGowan, British Birds 96: 58-73, plates 34, 42, 43; B. Zonfrillo, R. Y. McGowan & R. L. Palmar, British Birds 96: 454; M. J. Rogers and the Rarities Committee, British Birds 96: 549; R. Y. McGowan, Birding Scotland 6 (3): 103-106, plates 89-90; BOURC (2004), Ibis 146: 192-195; Forrester & Andrews et al., 2007: photo).
History A. C. Stephen (1953) in the Scottish Naturalist, Vol. LXV. pp. 193-194, says 'This exhausted bird was found by John Graham on a freshwater lochan at the south-west corner of Tiree, Inner Hebrides, on the morning of 9th July, 1953. In spite of every care it died on the same evening of the same day. The specimen was presented by the Duke of Argyll to the Royal Scottish Museum at Edinburgh. It was identified by Sir N. B. Kinnear as a Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens. The bird was a female, not fully adult.'
It was accepted onto the Scottish list as recorded in the Scottish Naturalist 1955: 99. M. J. Rogers (1993) in British Birds, Vol. LXXXVI. p. 454, says '...that it was of the race rothschildi.'
G. Walbridge, B. Small & R. Y. McGowan (2003) in British Birds, Vol. XCVI. pp. 58-73, add: 'That it was caught in a landing net on 10th July [sic]. However, in an ongoing review of older records it was found to be non-compatible with Magnificent Frigatebird, and they concluded that it was a Ascension Frigatebird.'
Admitted nationally as the first for Britain with the date as it was initially recorded as 9th July 1953; it is now at National Museums of Scotland (NMSZ 1953.16) (BOURC (2004) Ibis, Vol. 146: 192-195).
