Diomedeidae – Albatrosses

Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris ©Ken Behrens Website

The Diomedeidae or Albatrosses are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm petrels and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic, although fossil remains show they once occurred there and occasional vagrants are found. Albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, and the great albatrosses (genus Diomedea) have the largest wingspans of any extant birds, reaching up to 3.7 metres. They are usually regarded as falling into four genera, but there is disagreement over the number of species.

They are highly efficient in the air, using dynamic soaring and slope soaring to cover great distances with little exertion. They feed on squid, fish and krill by either scavenging, surface seizing or diving. Albatrosses are colonial, nesting for the most part on remote oceanic islands, often with several species nesting together. Pair bonds between males and females form over several years, with the use of ‘ritualised dances’, and will last for the life of the pair. A breeding season can take over a year from laying to fledging, with a single egg laid in each breeding attempt.

Most albatrosses range in the Southern Hemisphere from Antarctica to Australia, South Africa and South America. The exceptions to this are the four North Pacific albatrosses, of which three occur exclusively in the North Pacific, from Hawaii to Japan, California and Alaska; and one, the waved albatross, breeds in the Galápagos Islands and feeds off the coast of South America. The need for wind to enable gliding is the reason albatrosses are for the most part confined to higher latitudes: being unsuited to sustained flapping flight makes crossing the doldrums extremely difficult. The exception, the Waved Albatross, is able to live in the equatorial waters around the Galápagos Islands because of the cool waters of the Humboldt Current and the resulting winds.

The albatross diet is predominantly cephalopods, fish, crustaceans, and offal, although they will also scavenge carrion and feed on other zooplankton. Until recently it was thought that albatrosses were predominantly surface feeders, swimming at the surface and snapping up squid and fish pushed to the surface by currents, predators, or death. The deployment of capillary depth recorders, which record the maximum dive depth undertaken by a bird, has shown that while some species, like the Wandering Albatross, do not dive deeper than a metre, some species, like the Light-mantled Albatross, have a mean diving depth of almost 5 m and can dive as deep as 12.5m. In addition to surface feeding and diving, they have also been observed plunge diving from the air to snatch prey.

Albatrosses live much longer than most other birds; they delay breeding for longer and invest more effort into fewer young. Most species survive upwards of 50 years, the oldest recorded being a northern royal albatross that was ringed as an adult and survived for another 51 years, giving it an estimated age of 61. Given that most albatross ringing projects are considerably younger than that, it is thought likely that other species will prove to live at least as long.

All the southern albatrosses create large nests for their egg, utilising grass, shrubs, soil, peat, and even penguin feathers, whereas the three species in the North Pacific make more rudimentary nests. The waved albatross, on the other hand, makes no nest and will even move its egg around the pair’s territory, as much as 50m, sometimes causing it to lose the egg. In all albatross species, both parents incubate the egg in stints that last between one day and three weeks. Incubation lasts around 70 to 80 days (longer for the larger albatrosses), the longest incubation period of any bird. It can be an energetically demanding process, with the adult losing as much as 83g of body weight a day.

Albatross chicks take a long time to fledge. In the case of the Great Albatrosses, it can take up to 280 days; even for the smaller albatrosses, it takes anywhere between 140 and 170 days.

Species List

According to the IOC there are considered to be 21 species of Albatrosses in the family Diomedeidae; they are:

Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis
Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes
Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata
Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus

Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans
Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis
Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis
Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena
Southern Royal Albatross Diomedea epomophora
Northern Royal Albatross Diomedea sanfordi

Sooty Albatross Phoebetria fusca
Light-mantled Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata

Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris
Campbell Albatross Thalassarche impavida
Shy Albatross Thalassarche cauta
Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita
Salvin’s Albatross Thalassarche salvini
Grey-headed Albatross Thalassarche chrysostoma
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri
Buller’s Albatross Thalassarche bulleri

Species Links
  • Black-browed Albatross Diomedea melanophris

    BirdLife Species Account
    The Black-browed Albatross Diomedea melanophris, known in the Falkland Islands as the Mollymawk, is found all around the southern oceans between 25 and 60'S. The Falkland Islands hold over 85% of the global population and are the most important breeding station in the world for this species. The largest rookery in the world is on Steeple Jason Island with some 200-230,000 breeding pairs (1987)…
  • Black-browed Albatross Diomedea melanophris

    Species Account
    The Black-browed Albatross is the most common albatross seen in southern Australian waters for most of the year, and is the only one of the mollymawks (another name for the smaller black-and-white albatrosses) with a yellow bill. The bill has a pink tip.
  • Black-browed Albatross Diomedea melanophris

    IUCN Species Status
  • Black-browed Albatross Diomedea melanophris

    Species Account
    Sound archive and distribution map.
  • Black-browed Albatross Diomedea melanophris

    Species Account
    The black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris), also known as the black-browed mollymawk,[3] is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae; it is the most widespread and common member of its family.
  • Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes

    IUCN Species Status
  • Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes

    Species Account
    Sound archive and distribution map.
  • Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes

    Species Account
    Similarly pelagic shearwaters and petrels are smaller with shorter wings. Also dark, but rare, first-year Short-tailed Albatross has pink bill and legs. Other albatross species have white bodies and heads…
  • Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes

    Cornell Species Account
    The only dark albatross of the northern Pacific Ocean, the Black-footed Albatross nests primarily on the Hawaiian Islands.
  • Grey-headed Albatross Thalassarche chrysostoma

    Species Account
    The grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma) also known as the grey-headed mollymawk, is a large seabird from the albatross family. It has a circumpolar distribution, nesting on isolated islands in the Southern Ocean and feeding at high latitudes, further south than any of the other mollymawks. Its name derives from its ashy-grey head, throat and upper neck.
  • Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri

    Species Account
    The Indian yellow-nosed albatross (Thalassarche carteri) is a member of the albatross family, and is the smallest of the mollymawks. In 2004, BirdLife International[2] split this species from the Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross.
  • Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri

    Species Account
    Sound archive and distribution map.
  • Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri

    IUCN Species Status
  • Laysan Albatross Diomedea immutabilis

    IUCN Species Status
  • Laysan Albatross Diomedea immutabilis

    Species Account
    Sound archive and distribution map.
  • Laysan Albatross Diomedea immutabilis

    Species Account
    The Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to 99.7% of the population.
  • Laysan Albatross Diomedea immutabilis

    Cornell Species Account
    One of the most marvelous sights in the Pacific ocean is the graceful glide of a Laysan Albatross at play among the winds and waves.
  • Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus

    Species Account
    The Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus once bred in huge numbers on at least eleven uninhabited remote islands in subtropical waters west of the Izu-Bonin islands chain, south of Japan. These long-lived birds do not reach full maturity until about 12 years old; away from the breeding islands they ranged widely throughout the north Pacific Ocean (Hasegawa 1984). Here in California, it was once…
  • Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus

    BirdLife Species Account
    BirdLife species profile…
  • Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus

    Species Account
    Sound archive and distribution map.
  • Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus

    Species Account
    The short-tailed albatross or Steller's albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) is a large rare seabird from the North Pacific. Although related to the other North Pacific albatrosses, it also exhibits behavioural and morphological links to the albatrosses of the Southern Ocean.
  • Short-tailed Albatrosses Phoebastria albatrus

    IUCN Species Status
Number of Species
  • Number of bird species: 21

Useful Reading
  • Albatross

    | By Graham Barwell | Reaktion Books | 2014 | Paperback | 208 pages, 60 colour & 40 b/w photos and illustrations | ISBN: 9781780231914 Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Albatross: Their World, Their Ways

    | By Tui De Roy, Mark Jones & Julian Fitter | Chrostopher Helm | 2008 | Hardback | 240 pages, colour photos, colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9780713688122 Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Field Guide to the Albatrosses, Petrels and Shearwaters of the World

    | By Derek Onley & Paul Scofield 2| Christopher Helm | 2007 | Paperback | 240 pages, 46 colour plates, distribution maps | ISBN: 9780713643329 Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Seabirds: A Natural History

    | By Anthony J Gaston | A&C Black | 2004 | Hardback | 222 pages, 22 colour plates, b/w photos, illustrations, figures | ISBN: 9780713665574 Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Seabirds: An Identification Guide

    | By Peter Harrison | Christopher Helm | 1991 | Hardback | 48 pages, 324 distribution maps, 88 colour plates, line drawings | ISBN: 9780713635102 Buy this book from NHBS.com
Organisations
  • Albatross Project

    Website
    Wake Forest University's Albatross Project
  • Friends of the Albatross

    Website
    Diaries from newly appointed Task Force members
  • Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association

    Website
    SOSSA was founded by members of the New South Wales Albatross Study Group (NSWASG) in 1994. It was set up to be an umbrella organisation for many study groups concerned with studies of Southern Ocean bio-diversity. SOSSA is a wildlife research and conservation group which consists of dedicated people both professional and amateur. These people share a common interest and concern for the environment and the wildlife of the Southern Oceans.
Reserves
  • Royal Albatross Centre - Taiaroa Head

    The Royal Albatross Colony at Taiaroa Head, on the tip of the Peninsula, is the only mainland breeding colony of albatross in the world
Other Links
  • Albatross Identification Card

    Website
    Anyone interested in seabirds can use this laminated, quick-reference card to identify the Laysan albatross, black-footed albatross, and the rare short-tailed albatross in the North Pacific. The card was designed for commercial fishermen, who are required by federal regulation to avoid killing short-tailed albatrosses. Albatrosses and other birds can get hooked when they grab bait on fishing lines…

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