The Frigatebird Tradition

Nauru's oldest sport tames the ocean's pirate: the frigatebird tradition - catching the great soaring birds with weighted lines and lures, taming them to perch flocks fed and flown from shore roosts - carried status and competition across generations, and keepers still maintain perch birds at coastal sites, the black silhouettes wheeling home to their poles at feeding time. Visitors meet the heritage by introduction: watching a feeding return, hearing the catching craft explained, and photographing the perch lines by permission. It is the island's most distinctive living culture - and its gentlest. The birds are kept and fed for long periods and the relationship is a personal one between bird and keeper.

What's there

• The perch flocks - tamed frigates on their shore poles.
• The feeding returns - black wings wheeling home.
• The catching craft - lines and lures explained.
• The status heritage - the sport's generational pride.

When to go

May to October with the trades; feeding times are the appointments - introductions through hosts arrange them.

Good to know

This is living custom by courtesy - arranged watching, permission-first photography and the keepers' pride respected.

Nearby

The coastal districts' shores and Anibare's bay.