When robbing gulls they easily out maneuver them. They have a long forked tail and long hooked beak. The males have a bright red bare-skinned throat. Often they will have it inflated. The females have white breasts and belly as do the immatures.
Nothing really has the long dark narrow wings they do.
In recent summers they seem to be more numerous. I rarely missed them when on the coast in the summer of 1995. Look for the Magnificent Frigatebird through out the summer and early fall along the coast.