North Pacific albatross

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North Pacific albatross
Waved albatrosses on Española Island, Galapagos
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Diomedeidae
Genus: Phoebastria
Reichenbach, 1853
Type species
Diomedea brachyura[1]
Temminck, 1829
Species

Phoebastria immutabilis
Phoebastria nigripes
Phoebastria irrorata
Phoebastria albatrus
†Phoebastria californica
†Phoebastria anglica
†Phoebastria rexsularum
†Phoebastria cf. albatrus
†Phoebastria cf. immutabilis
†Phoebastria cf. nigripes

Synonyms

Diomedea (sensu Coues, 1866)
Julietata Mathews & Hallstrom, 1943

The North Pacific albatrosses are large

tropical of the albatrosses, with two species (the Laysan and black-footed albatrosses) nesting in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, one on sub-tropical islands south of Japan (the short-tailed albatross), and one nesting on the equator (the waved albatross
).

Taxonomy

Their

triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.[3] They also have a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage and that helps desalinate their bodies, to compensate for the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe. It excretes a high saline solution from their nose.[4]

Species

Genus Phoebastria – North Pacific albatrosses

Genus Phoebastria – Reichenbach, 1853 – four species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Laysan albatross

Phoebastria immutabilis
(Rothschild, 1893) 		Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, particularly the islands of Midway and Laysan
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 NT 


black-footed albatross

Phoebastria nigripes
(Audubon, 1839) 		Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, from Kure Atoll to Kaula Island
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 NT 


waved albatross

Phoebastria irrorata
(Salvin, 1883) 		Ecuador and Peru
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 CR 


short-tailed albatross

Phoebastria albatrus
(Pallas, 1769) 		North Pacific
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 VU 




This genus and Diomedea had already diverged in the Middle Miocene (12–15

mya). Several fossil forms are known, which incidentally prove that Phoebastria was formerly distributed in the North Atlantic also. The current distribution is thus a relict
. The oldest known species, P. californica, was at least the size of the short-tailed albatross and may have been an ancestor of that bird.

Fossil species

  • Phoebastria californica (Temblor Middle Miocene of Sharktooth Hill, US)
  • Phoebastria anglica (Middle Pliocene – Early Pleistocene of NC Atlantic coasts)
  • Phoebastria cf. albatrus (San Diego Late Pliocene of San Diego County, US) – formerly Diomedea howardae
  • Phoebastria rexsularum
  • Phoebastria cf. immutabilis (San Pedro Pleistocene of San Pedro, US)
  • Phoebastria cf. nigripes (San Pedro Pleistocene of San Pedro, US)
Waved albatross pair

Description

The North Pacific albatross ranges in size from 190 to 240 cm (75–94 in) and they all have short black tails.[5]

Behavior

The feeding habits of these albatrosses are similar to other albatrosses in that they eat fish,

crustacea, and carrion.[5]

Observations made during June 2010 from the

copepods from the genus Pennella and the albatrosses were seen to remove these parasites from the sunfish which appeared to be actively attempting to attract the albatrosses.[6]

When roosting, they choose isolated sites and lay one egg, with both parents incubating and raising the chick. They are

monogamous species, and they don't start breeding until they are 5–15 years old.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Diomedeidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  2. doi:10.2307/4088857
    .
  3. ISBN 0-7876-5784-0
    .
  4. ISBN 0-671-65989-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-7876-5784-0
    .
  6. doi:10.1007/s00227-011-1873-6
    .

Further reading
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