Theblack-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris), also known as theblack-browed mollymawk,[3] is a largeseabird of thealbatross family Diomedeidae; it is the most widespread and common member of its family.
Mollymawks are albatrosses in the familyDiomedeidae and orderProcellariiformes, which also includesshearwaters,fulmars,storm petrels, anddiving petrels. These birds share certain identifying features. They have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill callednaricorns, although the nostrils on the albatross are on the sides of the bill. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates. They produce astomach oil made up ofwax esters andtriglycerides that is stored in theproventriculus. 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 asalt 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 theCampbell albatross (Thalassarche impavida), should be split from this species (T. melanophris).[6] Over the course of the next few years, others agreed, includingBirdLife International in 2000,[7] and Brooke in 2004.[8]James Clements did not adopt the split,[9] theACAP has not yet adopted the split, and theSACC recognizes the need for a proposal.[10]
The origin of the namemelanophris comes from twoGreek wordsmelas ormelanos, meaning "black", andophris, meaning "eyebrow", referring to dark feathering around the eyes.[12]
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-orangebill 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 relatedCampbell 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 togrey-headed albatrosses but the latter have wholly dark bills and more complete dark head markings.
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 theFalklands, 72,102 breed onSouth Georgia Island, 120,171 breed on theChilean islands of Islas Ildefonso, Diego de Almagro, Islas Evangelistas, and Islas Diego Ramírez. 600 pairs breed onHeard Island, Finally, the remaining 5,409 pairs breed on the remaining islands.[11][15][16] This particular species of albatross prefers to forage overshelf and shelf-break areas. Falkland Island birds winter near thePatagonian Shelf, and birds from South Georgia forage inSouth African waters, using theBenguela Current, and theChilean birds forage over thePatagonian Shelf, theChilean Shelf, and even make it as far asNew Zealand. It is the most likely albatross to be found in the North Atlantic due to a northerlymigratory tendency. There have been 20 possible sightings in theContinental United States.[17]
The black-browed albatross feeds on fish,squid,crustaceans,carrion, and fishery discards.[18][19][20] This species has been observed stealing food from other species.[3]
This species normally nests on steep slopes covered withtussock grass and sometimes on cliffs; however, on theFalklands 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, andKerguelen 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]
Until 2013, theIUCN classified this species asendangered due to a drastic reduction in population.[21]Bird Island near South Georgia Island had a 4% per year loss of nesting pairs,[16] and theKerguelen Island population had a 17% reduction from 1979 to 1995.[22]Diego Ramírez decreased in the 1980s but has rebounded recently,[23][24] and theFalklands 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]
Although this is a rare occurrence, on several occasions a black-browed albatross has summered inScottishgannet colonies (Bass Rock,Hermaness and nowSula Sgeir) for a number of years. Ornithologists believe that it was the same bird, known asAlbert, who lives in northScotland.[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 theFaroe Islands island ofMykines, 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 namedAlbert - has been sighted overHeligoland, and on the east coast of England, spending much time at Bempton Cliffs. The individual spent lots of time at Bempton over the summers of 2021 and 2022, but failed to return subsequently.[42][43][44][45]
Arata, J.; Moreno, C. A. (2002). "Progress report of Chilean research on albatross ecology and conservation".Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Working Group on Fish Stock Assessment.
Croxall, J. P.; Gales, R. (1998). "Assessment of the conservation status of albatrosses". In Robertson, G.; Gales, R. (eds.).Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton, Australia: Surrey Beatty & Sons.
Double, M. C. (2003). "Procellariiformes (Tubenosed Seabirds)". In Hutchins, Michael; Jackson, Jerome A.; Bock, Walter J.; Olendorf, Donna (eds.).Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins. Joseph E. Trumpey, Chief Scientific Illustrator (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 107–111.ISBN978-0-7876-5784-0.
Dunn, Jon L.; Alderfer, Jonathan (2006). "Albatrosses". In Levitt, Barbara (ed.).National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (fifth ed.). Washington D.C.:National Geographic Society. p. 80.ISBN978-0-7922-5314-3.
Gales, R. (1998). "Albatross populations: status and threats". In Robertson, G.; Gales, R. (eds.).Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton, Australia: Surrey Beatty & Sons.
Gotch, A. F. (1995) [1979]. "Albatrosses, Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels".Latin Names Explained A Guide to the Scientific Classifications of Reptiles, Birds & Mammals. New York, NY: Facts on File. p. 191.ISBN978-0-8160-3377-5.
Lawton, K.; Robertson, G.; Valencia, J.; Wienecke, B.; Kirkwood, R. (2003). "The status of Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophrys at Diego de Almagro Island, Chile".Ibis.145 (3):502–505.doi:10.1046/j.1474-919x.2003.00186.x.
Murray, T. E.; Bartle, J. A.; Kalish, S. R.; Taylor, P. R. (1993). "Incidental capture of seabirds by Japanese southern bluefin tuna longline vessels in New Zealand waters, 1988–1992".Bird Conservation International.3 (3):181–210.doi:10.1017/s0959270900000897.S2CID85632223.
Poncet, S.; Robertson, G.; Phillips, R. A.; Lawton, K.; Phalan, B.; Trathan, P. N.; Croxall, J. P. (2006). "Status and distribution of wandering Black-browed and Grey-headed Albatrosses breeding at South Georgia".Polar Biology.29 (9):772–781.Bibcode:2006PoBio..29..772P.doi:10.1007/s00300-006-0114-9.S2CID21411990.
Prince, P. A.; Croxall, J. P.; Trathan, P. N.; Wood, A. G. (1998). "The pelagic distribution of South Georgia albatrosses and their relationships with fisheries". In Robertson, G.; Gales, R. (eds.).Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton, Australia: Surrey Beatty & Sons.
Robertson, C. J. R. (2003). "Albatrosses (Diomedeidae)". In Hutchins, Michael; Jackson, Jerome A.; Bock, Walter J.; Olendorf, Donna (eds.).Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins. Joseph E. Trumpey, Chief Scientific Illustrator (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. p. 120.ISBN978-0-7876-5784-0.
Robertson, G.; Moreno, C. A.; Lawton, K.; Arata, J.; Valencia, J.; Kirkwood, R. (2007). "An estimate of the population sizes of Black-browed (Thalassarche melanophrys) and Grey-headed (T. chrysostoma) Albatross breeding in the Diego Ramírez Archipelago, Chile".Emu.107 (3):239–244.Bibcode:2007EmuAO.107..239R.doi:10.1071/mu07028.S2CID83796801.
Robertson, C. J. R.; Nunn, G. B. (1998). "Towards a new taxonomy for albatrosses". In Robertson, G.; Gales, R. (eds.).Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton, Australia: Surrey Beatty & Sons. pp. 13–19.
Schiavini, A.; Frere, E.; Gandini, P.; Garcia, N.; Crespo, E. (1998). "Albatross-fisheries interactions in Patagonian shelf waters". In Robertson, G.; Gales, R. (eds.).Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton, Australia: Surrey Beatty & Sons. pp. 208–213.
Schlatter, R. P. (1984). "The status and conservation of seabirds in Chile". In Croxall, J. P.; Evans, P. G. H.; Schreiber, R. W. (eds.).Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. Cambridge, U.K.:International Council for Bird Preservation (Techn. Publ.). pp. 261–269.
Stagi, A.; Vaz-Ferreira, R.; Marin, Y.; Joseph, L. (1998). "The conservation of albatrosses in Uruguayan waters". In Robertson, G.; Gales, R. (eds.).Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton, Australia: Surrey Beatty & Sons. pp. 220–224.
Sullivan, B.; Reid, T. (2002). "Seabird interactions/mortality with longliners and trawlers in the Falkland/Malvinas Island waters".Unpublished Report. CCAMLR-WG-FSA-02/36.
Thompson, K. R.; Riddy, M. D. (1995). "Utilisation of offal discards from finfish trawlers around the Falkland Islands by the Black-browed Albatross Diomedea melanophris".Ibis.137 (2):198–206.doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1995.tb03240.x.
Tuck, G.; Polacheck, T. (1997).Trends in tuna long-line fisheries in the Southern Oceans and implications for seabird by-catch: 1997 update. Hobart, Australia: Division of Marine Research.
Watkins, B. P.; Petersen, S. L.; Ryan, P. G. (2007). "Interactions between seabirds and deep-water hake trawl gear: an assessment of impacts in South African waters".Animal Conservation.11 (4):247–254.doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2008.00192.x.
Weimerskirch, H.; Jouventin, P. (1998). "Changes in population sizes and demographic parameters of six albatross species breeding on the French sub-antarctic islands". In Robertson, G.; Gales, R. (eds.).Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton, Australia: Surrey Beatty and Sons. pp. 84–91.
Xavier, J. C.; Croxall, J. P.; Trathan, P. N.; Wood, A. G. (2003). "Feeding strategies and diets of breeding grey-headed and wandering albatrosses at South Georgia".Marine Biology.143 (2):221–232.Bibcode:2003MarBi.143..221X.doi:10.1007/s00227-003-1049-0.S2CID85569322.
_01.jpg)
