Wandering albatross

Diomedea exulans

Common name:
wandering albatross (en); albatroz-errante (pt); albatros hurleur (fr); albatros viajero (es); wanderalbatros (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Procellariiformes
Family Diomedeidae

Range:
This species breeds in small, remote islands of the southern oceans, namely South Georgia, Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands and Macquarie Island. They wander over most of the southern oceans, as far south as the northernmost parts of Antarctica and as far north as southern Brazil and central Chile, southern Namibia and Mozambique, New Zealand and southern Australia.

Size:
These birds are 107-135 cm long and have the largest recorded wingspan of any bird alive today, at 250-350 cm. They weigh 8,2-11,9 kg.

Habitat:
The wandering albatross is a pelagic bird, found in open oceanic waters and only coming to land to breed in on exposed ridges and hillocks, amongst open and patchy vegetation, in remote oceanic islands.

Diet:
They hunt fish, squids and other cephalopods, and, to a lesser extent, crustaceans. Their prey include the cephalopods Kondakovia longimana, Sepia apama, Histioteuthis, Moroteuthis, and Taonius, and toothfishes Dissostichus.

Breeding:
Wandering albatrosses start breeding in December and typically only breed once every 2 years. They are monogamous and mate for life. They nest in loose colonies, each pair building a mound of grasses, moss and peat soil, where the female lays a single egg. The egg is incubated by both parents for 74-85 days. The chick is fed by both parents and fledges 7-10 months after hatching. They reach sexual maturity at 9-11 years of age.

Conservation:
IUCN status - VU (Vulnerable)
This species has an extremely large range and the global population is currently estimated at 20.100 individuals. The population is believed to have declined by 30% over the last 7 decades, but presently only the population is South Georgia is still declining, with other breeding population now stabilized or slightly increasing. Declines of wandering albatross population are mainly caused by accidental by-catch in longline fisheries, while hunting was only a problem until the early 20th century. Chicks are vulnerable to the accumulation of anthropogenic debris and fishing hooks, and in some islands can be preyed upon by cats. There has also been extensive habitat loss and degradation at South Georgia due to the activities of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has introduced measures which have reduced by-catch of albatrosses around South Georgia by over 99%, and other Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, have taken initial steps to reduce seabird by-catch rates. Most breeding colonies are part of nature reserves and on Macquarie cats have been eradicated and an operation targeting rabbits, rats, and mice commenced in the winter of 2010.

Black-browed albatross

Thalassarche melanophris

Photo by Jose Xavier (Antarctic Field Guide)

Common name:
black-browed albatross (en); albatroz-de-sobrancelha (pt); albatros à sourcils noirs (fr); albatros de ceja negra (es); schwarzbrauenalbatros (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Procellariiformes
Family Diomedeidae

Range:
This species has a circumpolar distribution, being found from the polar waters of Antarctica north to the coasts of southern Australia, Namibia and southern Mozambique in Africa and Peru and south-eastern Brazil in South America. They have breeding colonies in the Falkland Islands, Islas Diego Ramirez, Ildefonso, Diego de Almagro and Isla Evangelistas in Chile, South Georgia, Crozet and Kerguelen Islands in the Southern Ocean, Heard and McDonald Islands and Macquarie Island in Australia, and Campbell and Antipodes Islands in New Zealand.

Size:
These birds are 80-95 cm long and have a wingspan of 200-240 cm. They weigh 2,9-4,7 kg.

Habitat:
The black-browed albatross forages in oceanic waters, usually favouring shelf and shelf-break areas. They breed in steep slopes with tussock grass, sometimes on cliff terraces, or on flat ground along the shore line.

Diet:
They feed mainly on crustaceans, fish and squids, but also take carrion, fish discards and sometimes smaller seabirds such as Wildon's storm petrels Oceanites oceanicus. They show kleptoparasitic behaviour, stealing food from other species.

Breeding:
Black-browed albatrosses are monogamous and breed in large colonies that can count thousands of breeding pairs. They breed in September-April. The nest on the ground and the female lays a single egg which is incubated by both parents for 68-71 days. The chick is fed by both parents and fledge 120-130 days after hatching. They reach sexual maturity at 10 years of age.

Conservation:
IUCN - NT (Near-Threatened)
This species has an extremely large breeding range and a global population estimated at 1,4 million individuals. The main breeding population, in the Falkland Islands has shown an increase in recent decades, which outwheights declines elsewhere and justifies the estimate that the global population is increasing. Some breeding population are threatened by by-catch in long-line fisheries, while the explosion in European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus numbers on Macquarie Island led to an extensive destruction of habitat and soil erosion at nesting sites and cats are a problem in other islands. Conservation action underway include an eradication programme for rodents in Macquarie Island.

Black-footed albatross

Phoebastia nigripes

Photo by James Lloyd (PBase)

Common name:
black-footed albatross (en); albatroz-de-patas-negras (pt); albatros à pieds noirs (fr); albatros de patas negras (es); schwarzfußalbatros (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Procellariiformes
Family Diomedeidae

Range:
This species is found in the northern Pacific Ocean, from the Bearing Sea down to Hawaii and Guam, breeding only in the northwestern Hawaian islands, in a few small islands and atolls between Hawaii and the Marshall islands and in three outlying islands of Japan.

Size:
These birds are 68-80 cm long and have a wingspan of 190-220 cm. They weigh 2,6-4,3 kg.

Habitat:
The black footed albatross is a pelagic bird, foraging in the open sea and breeding in sandy beaches and slopes with little or no vegetation on small oceanic islands.

Diet:
They mainly feed on the eggs of flying fish and squids, and to a lesser extent on crustaceans and fishes and fish offal from ships and human refuse.

Breeding:
Black-footed albatrosses breed in October-May. They are monogamous and mate for life. They breed in colonies and each nest is a shallow scrape on sandy ground, made by both sexes. There the female lays a single dull white egg with reddish-brown spots, which is incubated by both parents for 63-67 days. The chick is fed by both parents and although they may wander away from the nest after 2-3 months it only fledge 5-6 months after hatching. they only start breeding at 9 years of age.

Conservation:
IUCN status - VU (Vulnerable)
This species has a very restricted breeding range and the global population estimated at 129.000 individuals. The population trend in uncertain, as different estimates indicate either negative or positive trends, but this species is known to suffer from by-catch of fishing vessels, which kills up to 10.000 black-footed albatrosses each year. Other threats include organochlorine and heavy metal pollution, loss of nests to waves, introduced predators such as Polynesian rat Rattus exulans, accidental ingestion of plastic and volcanic eruption on the japanese island of Torishima.

Sooty albatross

Phoebetria fusca

(Photo from Naver Blog)

Common name:

sooty albatross (en); albatroz-sombrio (pt); albatros brun (fr); albatros ahumado (es); dunkelalbatros (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Procellariiformes

Family Diomedeidae

Range:

The sooty albatross if found in the southern Atlantic and Indian oceans, breeding sub-Antarctic islands including the Tristão da Cunha group, Prince Edward island, Marion island, the Crozet islands and on Amsterdam island.

Size:

These birds are 84-89 cm long and have a wingspan of 200-210 cm. Females tend to be smaller than males, weighing 1,8-2,5 kg while males weigh 2,4-2,9 kg.

Habitat:

These birds breed in inland and seaward cliffs of oceanic islands, generally among low vegetation. Outside the breeding season they are pelagic, foraging on the open ocean at latitudes between 30º S and 70º S.

Diet:

The sooty albatross eats cephalopods, fishes, crustaceans and carrion. Unlike other albatrosses, they seldom follow fishing vessels to catch food.

Breeding:

They are monogamous, with pairs bonding for life. They breed in August-April, forming small colonies of up to 100 nests. The nest is a cylindrical pile of earth and vegetation, placed on a high ledge or buttress. There the female lays a single egg which is incubated by both parents for 65-75 days. Both parents guard and feed the young until fledging, which takes place 5 months after hatching. Each pair will only breed once every 2 years and the young start breeding at 3-4 years of age.

Conservation:

IUCN status - EN (Endangered)

Although this species has an extremely large range, they only breed in a few small islands. The current population size is estimated at 42.000 individuals, but this population has declined by 75% over the last 3 generations. The main threat to the sooty albatross is the bycatch of both adults and juveniles by longline vessels. Other threats include the predation of eggs and juveniles by introduced rats and cats, and deseases like avian cholera and erysipelas bacteria.