Definition of "frigate bird" []

• Any of various tropical sea birds of the family Fregatidae that have long powerful wings, dark plumage, and a hooked beak and characteristically snatch food from other birds in flight. Also called man-o'-war bird. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Dodge and twist and double as it may — and no hare upon land is half so quick or resourceful as the wily tern in the air — the frigate bird follows with the audacity and certainty of fate, until flustered and frightened the little fish is abandoned, to be snapped up by the air-ranger before it reaches the sea."