Frigatebirds near Fort Desoto

Before you drive into Fort Desoto you pass several ponds. The above were flying high over the ponds recently. My husband calls frigate birds "the mean birds" because they steal food from other seabirds as they are flying in mid air. They also steal baby chicks from the nest to eat. They do not swim and cannot walk well so they rely on other birds for food. The only place I've seen them in the wild is at Fort Desoto and only recently. Last summer we saw a few flying high up in the sky. Last weekend there were 40-50 of them soaring over the ponds. There's almost always someone on the side of the road taking pictures of them.

The first picture is of a male who is all black and has a orange pouch under his beak that turns red and puffs out when he is mating. The ones with the white are females. There seemed to be more females than males flying around. Maybe the males where somewhere else watching a baseball game.