Black-browed albatross

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Black-browed albatross

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Diomedeidae
Genus: Thalassarche
Species:
T. melanophris
Binomial name
Thalassarche melanophris
(Temminck, 1828)[2]
Black-browed albatross range
Synonyms

Diomedea melanophris

Sub-adult plumage

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.

Taxonomy

Mollymawks are albatrosses in the family

triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as being an energy-rich food source for chicks and also for the adults during their long flights.[4] The albatross also has a salt gland above the nasal passage which helps to remove salt from the ocean water that they imbibe. The gland excretes a high saline solution through the bird's nose.[5]

In 1998, Robertson and Nunn published their view that the

SACC recognizes the need for a proposal.[10]

The black-browed albatross was first described as Diomedea melanophris by Coenraad Jacob Temminck, in 1828, based on a specimen from the Cape of Good Hope.[11]

Etymology

The origin of the name melanophris comes from two

Greek words melas or melanos, meaning "black", and ophris, meaning "eyebrow", referring to dark feathering around the eyes.[12]

Description

East of Tasmania, Southern Ocean

The black-browed albatross is a medium-sized albatross, at 80 to 95 cm (31–37 in) long with a 200 to 240 cm (79–94 in) wingspan and an average weight of 2.9 to 4.7 kg (6.4–10.4 lb).[3] It can have a natural lifespan of over 70 years. It has a dark grey saddle and upperwings that contrast with the white rump, and underparts. The underwing is predominantly white with broad, irregular, black margins. It has a dark eyebrow and a yellow-orange bill with a darker reddish-orange tip. Juveniles have dark horn-colored bills with dark tips, and a grey head and collar. They also have dark underwings. The features that distinguish it from other mollymawks (except the closely related Campbell albatross) are the dark eyestripe which gives it its name, a broad black edging to the white underside of its wings, white head and orange bill, tipped darker orange. The Campbell albatross is very similar but with a pale eye. Immature birds are similar to grey-headed albatrosses but the latter have wholly dark bills and more complete dark head markings.

Range and habitat

Breeding population and trends[7]
Location Population Date Trend
Falkland Islands 399,416 pairs 2007 Decreasing 0.7% yr
South Georgia Island
 74,296 pairs 2006 Decreasing
Chile 122,000 pairs 2007
Antipodes Island
 ? 1998
Campbell Island ? 1998
Heard Island
 600 pairs 1998 Increasing
McDonald Island ? 1998
Crozet Islands ? 1998
Kerguelen Islands ? 1998 Decreasing
Macquarie Island ? 1998
Snares Islands ? 1998
Total 600,000 pairs 2005 Decreasing

The black-browed albatross is circumpolar in the southern oceans, and it breeds on 12 islands throughout that range. In the

Heard Island, and McDonald Island.[14]

There are an estimated 1,220,000 birds alive with 600,853 breeding pairs, as estimated by a 2005 count. Of these birds, 402,571 breed in the

Continental United States.[17]

Behaviour

Black-browed albatross preening its newborn (New Island, Falkland Islands).
preening its newborn (New Island, Falkland Islands
).
killer whale
. Picture taken by an albatross-borne camera.
Taking off

Colonies are very noisy as they bray to mark their territory, and also cackle harshly. They use their fanned tail in courting displays.[3]

Feeding

The black-browed albatross feeds on fish,

crustaceans, carrion, and fishery discards.[18][19][20] This species has been observed stealing food from other species.[3]

Reproduction

MHNT
Colony on Saunders Island, Falkland Islands

This species normally nests on steep slopes covered with

Falklands it nests on flat grassland on the coast.[7] They are an annual breeder laying one egg from between 20 September and 1 November, although the Falklands, Crozet, and Kerguelen breeders lay about three weeks earlier. Incubation is done by both sexes and lasts 68 to 71 days. After hatching, the chicks take 120 to 130 days to fledge. Juveniles will return to the colony after two to three years but only to practice courtship rituals, as they start breeding around the 10th year.[3]

Conservation

Until 2013, the

Falklands had a surge in the 1980s[14][25] probably due to abundant fish waste from trawlers;[26] however, recent censuses have shown drastic reduction in the majority of the nesting sites there.[15] There has been a 67% decline in the population over 64 years.[7]

Skeleton of a black-browed albatross (Museum of Osteology)

Increased

Trawl fishing, especially around the Patagonian Shelf[36] and near South Africa, is also a large cause of deaths.[37]

Conservation efforts underway start with this species being placed on

Heard Island, McDonald Island, Macquarie Island, and the New Zealand islands are World Heritage Sites. An initial Chilean census has also been completed.[38]

Vagrancy

Although this is a rare occurrence, on several occasions a black-browed albatross has summered in Scottish gannet colonies (Bass Rock, Hermaness and now Sula Sgeir) for a number of years. Ornithologists believe that it was the same bird, known as Albert, who lives in north Scotland.[39][40] It is believed that the bird was blown off course into the North Atlantic in 1967.[40] A similar incident took place in the gannet colony in the Faroe Islands island of Mykines, where a black-browed albatross lived among the gannets for over 30 years. This incident is the reason why an albatross is referred to as a "gannet king" (Faroese: súlukongur) in Faroese.[41] In July 2013 the first recorded sighting of a black-browed albatross in the Bahamas was made from the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation's research vessel, off Sandy Point, Abaco. For four consecutive years from 2014 on, a bird - probably the same individual named Albert - has been sighted over Heligoland, and on the east coast of England.[42][43][44][45]

Black-browed albatross on Heligoland (April 2017)

Footnotes

  1. ^ BirdLife International. 2018. Thalassarche melanophris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22698375A132643647. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22698375A132643647.en. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. ^ Brands, S. (2008)
  3. ^ a b c d e Robertson, C. J. R. (2003)
  4. ^ Double, M. C. (2003)
  5. ^ Ehrlich, Paul R. (1988)
  6. ^ Robertson, C. J. R. & Nunn (1998)
  7. ^ a b c d BirdLife International (2008)
  8. ^ Brooke, M. (2004)
  9. ^ Clements, J. (2007)
  10. ^ Remsen Jr., J. V. (2008)
  11. ^ a b Robertson, G.; et al. (2007)
  12. ^ Gotch, A. F. (1995)
  13. ^ Gardner, Jacob (2011). "Thalassarche melanophrys black-browed albatros". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  14. ^ a b Croxall, J. P. & Gales, R. (1998)
  15. ^ a b Huin, N. & Reid, T. (2007)
  16. ^ a b Poncet, S.; et al. (2006)
  17. ^ Dunn, Jon L. & Alderfer, Jonathan (2006)
  18. ^ Cherel, Y.; et al. (2002)
  19. ^ Xavier, J. C.; et al. (2003)
  20. ^ Arata, J.; et al. (2003)
  21. ^ BirdLife International (2013)
  22. ^ Weimerskirch, H. & Jouventin, P. (1998)
  23. ^ Schlatter, R. P. (1984)
  24. ^ Arata, J. & Moreno, C. A. (2002)
  25. ^ Gales, R. (1998)
  26. ^ Thompson, K. R. & Riddy, M. D. (1995)
  27. ^ Prince, P. A.; et al. (1998)
  28. ^ a b Schiavini, A.; et al. (1998)
  29. ^ a b Stagi, A.; et al. (1998)
  30. ^ Tuck, G. & Polacheck, T. (1997)
  31. ^ Gales, R.; et al. (1998)
  32. ^ Murray, T. E.; et al. (1993)
  33. ^ Ryan, P. G. & Boix-Hinzen, C. (1998)
  34. ^ Ryan, P. G.; et al. (2002)
  35. ^ Reid, T. A. & Sullivan, B. J. (2004)
  36. ^ Sullivan, B. J. & Reid, T. A. (2002)
  37. ^ Watkins, B. P.; et, al (2007)
  38. ^ Lawton, K.; et al. (2004)
  39. ^ Ivens, Martin (9 May 2007)
  40. ^ a b "No romance for lovesick albatross". BBC. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2007.
  41. ^ á Ryggi, M. (1951)
  42. ^ Fotonachweise vom 28./29. Mai, 4./5. Juni und 12./13. Juni 2014 auf Helgoland. Bericht mit Fotos in Der Falke Nr. 8/2014, S. 34–37.
  43. ^ "Beobachtungsnachweise bei birdguides.com". Archived from the original on 21 April 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  44. ^ Sighting on Heligoland, 2016 (German)
  45. ^ Sighting on Heligoland, 2017 (German)

References

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thalassarche melanophris.
Wikispecies has information related to Thalassarche melanophris.
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