Amsterdam albatross

Amsterdam albatross
Adult in flight
Amsterdam albatross feeding chick
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Procellariiformes
Family:	Diomedeidae
Genus:	Diomedea
Species:	D. amsterdamensis
Binomial name
Diomedea amsterdamensis Roux, JP, Jouventin, Mougin, Stahl & Weimerskirch, 1983[2]
Synonyms
Diomedea exulans amsterdamensis Roux, Jouventin, Mougin, Stahl & Weimerskirch 1983[2]

The Amsterdam albatross or Amsterdam Island albatross,

The scientific name Diomedea amsterdamensis is composed of Diomedea, from the marooned Greek hero Diomedes, whose companions were turned to birds,^[8] and amsterdamensis, a Latin form of the name of the island where they are found.

Description

The Amsterdam albatross is a great albatross that breeds in brown, rather than in the more usual white, plumage. This bird weighs 4.8 to 8 kg (11–18 lb) and is 107 to 122 cm (42–48 in) long with a wingspan of 280 to 340 cm (110–130 in).^{[9] [10]} The adult bird has chocolate brown upper parts and is white on its face mask, throat, lower breast, and belly. It has a broad brown breast band along with brown undertail coverts. Its pink bill has a dark tip and dark cutting edges, and finally, its underwings are white except for the dark tip and the dark leading edge.^[11]

Distribution and habitat

The Amsterdam albatross breeds only on

Because of its rarity, the feeding ecology and at-sea distribution of the Amsterdam albatross is not well understood, although it is believed that the birds eat squid, crustaceans, and fish.^[11] Off-duty birds during the incubation stage of the breeding cycle cover large areas of the Indian Ocean, traveling up to 2,400 km (1,500 mi).

Breeding

Amsterdam albatrosses breed biennially in the open marshy ground. Both parents

Conservation

The Amsterdam albatross is listed as

To help in conservation efforts, banding of the birds and frequent censuses are undertaken. Feral cattle were eliminated from Amsterdam Island in 2010.

Albatrosses (family Diomedeidae) are highly sensitive to adverse population effects since they are very long-lived seabirds with low fecundity and delayed sexual maturity. The worldwide decline of albatross populations coincided with the development of industrial long-line fisheries.^[14] Studies indicate that industrial fishing operations conducted close to seabird breeding grounds are more likely to impact populations, compared to fisheries operating further out to sea.^[12] Evidence suggests that the Amsterdam albatross population had been affected by long-line fisheries targeting southern bluefin tuna, between the mid 1960s and mid 1980's, while operations took place amidst the birds' feeding grounds.^[12][14] Based on bycatch rates for other albatross species, long-line fisheries have the potential to remove about 2-16 individuals (i.e. 5%) per year from the total Amsterdam population. In 2007, researchers estimated the population had grown to 167 individuals; this increase in abundance coincided with global decreases in long-line fishing throughout the southern oceans.^[14] To prevent fishing operations from impacting breeding populations, it is recommended that fishing should be conducted outside of the foraging area for breeding birds.^[15]

References