Artistic Birds – Frigatebirds | Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus

Great Frigatebird (Fregata minor) Male ©WikiC

Bezalel was given much wisdom and understanding to help in the construction of the Tabernacle. He then was given the ability to train others to help. They were given abilities to help do the work also. Today, as Christians, we each are given talents and gifts to help in building the Church. Are we using those abilities?

“and He has filled him [Bezalel] with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship. “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.” (Exodus 35:31-35 NKJV)

When the Lord created the birds, He especially used His Ultimate Creative Ability. As mentioned in the Introduction to this new series, Artistic Work In Birds, we will looking for those birds which seem to have been painted/designed with great markings and other characteristics.

Frigatebirds

Frigatebirds (also listed as “frigate bird”, “frigate-bird”, “frigate”, “frigate-petrel”) are a family of seabirds called Fregatidae which are found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five extant species are classified in a single genus, Fregata. All have predominantly black plumage, long, deeply forked tails and long hooked bills. Females have white underbellies and males have a distinctive red gular pouch, which they inflate during the breeding season to attract females. Their wings are long and pointed and can span up to 2.3 metres (7.5 ft), the largest wing area to body weight ratio of any bird.

Great Frigatebird (Fregata minor palmerstoni) Female by Ian

Able to soar for weeks on wind currents, frigatebirds spend most of the day in flight hunting for food, and roost on trees or cliffs at night. Their main prey are fish and squid, caught when chased to the water surface by large predators such as tuna.

Now that is design and engineering! The Great and Magnificent Frigatebirds have a distinctive red gular pouch, and it had a few paint strokes added to make it more attractive. [I guess]