In addition, the origin of the frigatebird's name can be traced back to its living habits.
The frigatebird has a pair of long, pointed wings and is very good at flying. When its wings are spread out, the distance between the two wingtips can reach 2.3 meters.
During the day, frigatebirds are almost always soaring in the sky.
They can flip and hover at high altitudes, or dive straight and fast. Their superb flying skills are truly amazing.
Since the frigatebird cannot dive to catch fish, it likes to attack other seabirds that are holding fish while flying in the air.
Usually, when a frigatebird sees its prey, it will rush towards its target very ferociously, causing the victim to panic and drop the fish in its mouth and flee in haste.
At this moment, the frigatebird swooped down immediately, grabbed the falling fish in mid-air, and swallowed it immediately.
Because of the frigatebird's predatory habits, early biologists named it frigatebird.
In the Middle Ages, frigate meant a sailing ship equipped with cannons used by pirates.
In modern English, frigate means frigate.
Later, this meaning was translated into Chinese, and people simply called it a warship.
This is how the frigatebird got its name.
In addition, the frigatebird is also called the pirate bird.
It obtains food by harassing other seabirds returning with prey.
In addition to interfering with other flying birds and catching food that falls from the mouths of other seabirds, if the frigatebirds see red-footed boobies or seagulls returning from fishing, they will suddenly launch an air attack on them, forcing the red-footed boobies or seagulls to abandon the fish or shrimp in their mouths, and then dive rapidly to grab the falling fish and shrimp for themselves.
Xiang Yang glanced at the top of the cabin and muttered to himself, could that big guy be eyeing the two Steller's sea eagles on the top of his cabin
It’s not that Xiang Yang looks down on the frigatebird.
Steller's sea eagles are not afraid of frigatebirds, especially when flying over the sea.
Both are kings of the sky above the sea.
However, frigatebirds have no oil in their feathers and cannot get wet, otherwise they will drown. Therefore, they catch food by themselves and can only catch a small number of fish near the water surface. Most of the time, they rely on their superb flying skills to intercept fish caught by other birds from the air.
And what about the Steller's sea eagle
That is the true king of the sky.
In terms of combat effectiveness, the two are probably on par with each other.
But if they were to become entangled and fall from the sky into the sea together, the frigatebird would surely be the one to die.
"Coo...Coo..." The female eagle called to the male eagle a few times, as if to warn the male eagle that an invader had entered the territory.
Eagles only make cooing sounds when they are the most docile, warmest and most relaxed, and it was obvious that the female eagle didn't take the frigatebird seriously at all.
"Chiu—"
The male Steller's sea eagle let out a loud and sonorous eagle cry, slowly stood up from the eagle's nest, and then spread out a pair of huge wings.
In the Steller's sea eagle family, the male and female birds take turns incubating eggs, rather than the female eagle incubating them all the time. The male and female eagles also hunt together, but when it comes to defending against foreign enemies, it is usually the male eagle, which is relatively smaller but more flexible and has stronger fighting power, that comes forward to resolve the situation.
A loud eagle's cry resounded through the sky, echoing in the vast world where the sea and sky were one, as if the male eagle was declaring its sovereignty to the frigatebird.
Xiang Yang looked at the sky with some worry.
Although this frigatebird is flying over the sea as if it is crossing the ocean, in fact Xiang Yang knows that the frigatebird will return to the land or islands to roost every night.
When resting, frigatebirds usually land on towering rocks or treetops, always keeping a certain distance from the ground, otherwise they will not even be able to take off smoothly.
Someone once posted a video of a frigatebird swimming online, and many people used that video to deny the conclusion of biologists that frigatebirds cannot get wet.
In fact, even if frigatebirds swim, they only gather on the sea surface not far from the shore, and it is absolutely impossible for them to be in the deep sea area.
Therefore, Xiang Yang was not worried that the Steller's sea eagle would suffer a loss in a fight with the frigatebird.
What Xiang Yang was really worried about was that frigatebirds were social creatures.
When roosting, large flocks of frigatebirds will huddle together, appearing very crowded.
Speaking of this, there is something worth mentioning because it is very magical.
At night, many other seabirds, such as boobies, seagulls, and even goshawks, often gather around frigatebirds to roost.
Most of these birds are bullied and plundered by frigatebirds during the day, but they sleep with them at night, which is incredible.
At this time, the crew also looked up and saw the frigatebird flying in the sky.
Fang Youqun looked at the Steller's sea eagle on top of the cabin, then looked up at the frigate bird in the sky, and turned to look at Xiang Yang, "Brother Yang, could that frigate bird be targeting the Steller's sea eagle?"
"Impossible." Xiang Yang shook his head. "The Steller's sea eagle is not a sparrow or seagull. The frigate bird wouldn't dare to attack the Steller's sea eagle."
Xiang Yang always believed that in the animal world, the strong are respected and the weak should naturally submit to the strong.
But in fact, in nature, the weak have always been desperately resisting the strong. This spirit of resistance is even integrated into their bones and passed down from generation to generation.
Such as the killer whale and the humpback whale.
Killer whales cannot defeat humpback whales.
If a humpback whale encounters a killer whale, it will definitely beat it up.
But humpback whales have a slow growth cycle.
Once a group of killer whales encounter a juvenile humpback whale, they will go up and kill the juvenile humpback whale even at the risk of being killed by the humpback whale.
Another example is the African honey badger and jackal.
Neither of these two creatures can ever defeat a pride of lions.
But if they encounter a lone lion, they will definitely fight to the death.
The male Steller's sea eagle stared at the sky with a fierce look, stretching its wings and showing off its kingly posture.
But the frigatebird was not afraid at all. It circled over the fishing boat, flying lower and lower, and gradually approached the eagle's nest.
Doesn’t the frigatebird know that it can’t beat the Steller’s sea eagle
Especially now there are two Steller's sea eagles here, but only one frigatebird.
The frigatebird must have known that it could not defeat the two Steller's sea eagles, but it believed that the two Steller's sea eagles could not kill it. It was confident in its fighting ability and thought that it could withstand the attack of the two Steller's sea eagles and then escape safely.
The most important thing is that the frigatebird has determined through observation that there is a Steller's sea eagle's nest on the fishing boat. It obviously wants to strike first and kill the chicks or eggs of one of its few natural enemies, the Steller's sea eagle, and nip the natural enemy in the bud.
The frigatebird lowered its head to look at the Steller's sea eagle's nest thirty or forty meters below, and began to look for the most suitable foothold to launch an attack.