Scientists are tracking a group of young black-browed albatross, who have begun their first epic journeys across the Southern Ocean. In April 2023, 26 young black-browed albatross on Bird Island in South Georgia were fitted ...
Plants & Animals
May 15, 2023
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With the largest wingspan of any living bird, the wandering albatross is a giant of the sea. But like several other tube-nosed bird species, it is under threat of extinction.
Plants & Animals
Feb 16, 2023
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Phoebastria immutabilis, commonly known as the Laysan albatross, is a large seabird native to the North Pacific Ocean. Owing to the decrease in their population size, this species has been listed as "Near Threatened" in the ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 1, 2023
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A new study led by the University of Liverpool has found that wandering albatrosses with older partners spend less time on foraging trips than those with more sprightly partners so that their mate has a shorter wait without ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 19, 2022
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Wandering albatrosses, which are an iconic sight in the Southern Ocean, are highly adapted to long-distance soaring flight. Their wingspan of up to 11 feet is the largest known of any living bird, and yet wandering albatrosses ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 30, 2022
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Over half of wandering albatrosses breeding on Bird Island, in the sub-Antarctic, encounter fishing vessels when feeding, putting them at risk of being accidentally caught or killed in fishing gear, according to new research ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 28, 2022
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Monogamy is widespread among birds and it is well known that many seabird species mate for life. Famous examples include charismatic penguins and albatrosses which are often portrayed in the media as the perfect couples. ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 26, 2022
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Most albatrosses mate for life but shy males who avoid confrontation are more likely to get dumped, researchers said Wednesday, adding it was the first time personality had been shown to predict divorce in a wild animal.
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Sep 18, 2022
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The wandering albatross is the poster bird for avian monogamy. The graceful glider is known to mate for life, partnering up with the same bird to breed, season after season, between long flights at sea.
Plants & Animals
Sep 14, 2022
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British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and RSPB are recruiting albatross detectives to help to search for wandering albatrosses in satellite images taken from space in an effort to learn more about how these sentinels of the sea ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 5, 2022
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Diomedea Thalassarche Phoebastria Phoebetria
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, 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 too 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. The albatrosses are usually regarded as falling into four genera, but there is disagreement over the number of species.
Albatrosses 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.
Of the 21 species of albatrosses recognised by the IUCN, 19 are threatened with extinction. Numbers of albatrosses have declined in the past due to harvesting for feathers, but today the albatrosses are threatened by introduced species such as rats and feral cats that attack eggs, chicks and nesting adults; by pollution; by a serious decline in fish stocks in many regions largely due to overfishing; and by long-line fishing. Long-line fisheries pose the greatest threat, as feeding birds are attracted to the bait, become hooked on the lines, and drown. Identified stakeholders such as governments, conservation organisations and people in the fishing industry are all working toward reducing this bycatch.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
