Black-browed Albatross
The Black-browed Albatross, also known as the Black-browed Mollymawk, is a large seabird in the albatross family Diomedeidae and it is the most widespread and common member of its family.
The albatrosses are classified in the order Procellariiformes which also includes shearwaters, fulmars, storm petrels and diving petrels. All these birds share certain identifying features. They have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns 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 7 and 9 horny plates and they have 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.
The Black-browed Albatross is a medium-sized albatross at 31 to 37 inches in length with a 79 to 94 inches wingspan. It has a dark grey saddle and upperwings that contrast with the white rump and underparts. The underwing is predominantly white with broad and irregular black margins. It has a dark eyebrow and a yellow-orange bill with a darker reddish-orange tip. Juveniles have dark horn-coloured bills with dark tips and a grey head and collar. They also have dark underwings. The features that distinguish it from other albatrosses 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 Black-browed Albatross is circumpolar in the southern oceans and it breeds on 12 islands throughout that range. In the Atlantic Ocean, it breeds on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and the Cape Horn Islands. In the Pacific Ocean it breeds on Islas Ildefonso, Diego de Almagro, Islas Evangelistas, Campbell Island, Antipodes Islands, Snares Islands and Macquarie Island. In the Indian Ocean it breeds on the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Island.
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 Falklands, 72,102 breed on South Georgia Island and 120,171 breed on the Chilean islands of Islas Ildefonso, Diego de Almagro, Islas Evangelistas and Islas Diego Ramírez.
Birds from the Falkland Islands winter near the Patagonian Shelf and birds from South Georgia forage in South African waters. It is the most likely albatross to be found in the North Atlantic due to this northerly migratory tendency.
The Black-browed Albatross normally nests on steep slopes covered with tussock grass and sometimes on cliffs although on the Falkland Islands it nests on flat grassland on the coast. It is an annual breeder with the female laying a single egg from between 20th September and 1st November although the Falkland Islands breeders lay about 3 weeks earlier. Incubation of the egg is undertaken 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 2 to 3 years but only to practice courtship rituals as they will only start breeding around their 10th year. The Black-browed Albatross can have a natural lifespan of over 70 years.
The Black-browed Albatross feeds on fish, squid, crustaceans, carrion, and fishery discards but it has also been observed stealing food from other species.
Until 2013, the IUCN classified the Black-browed Albatross as endangered due to a drastic reduction in its population. There has been a 67% decline in the population over 64 years. Increased longline fishing in the southern oceans, especially around the Patagonian Shelf and around South Georgia, has been attributed as a major cause of the decline of this bird and the Black-browed Albatross has been found to be the most common bird killed by fisheries. Trawl fishing, especially around the Patagonian Shelf and off South Africa, is also a large cause of deaths.
Conservation efforts underway start with this species being placed on the Convention on Migratory Species and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. It is being monitored on half of the islands and most of the breeding sites are reserves and some are World Heritage Sites.
Although a very rare occurrence, vagrancy into the North Atlantic has occurred including a bird which returned to the Gannet colony on Shetland for several decades from 1967. From 2014, another bird has been seen around the Heligoland archipelago off the Germany and Denmark coast and what is believed to be the same bird has summered at or around RSPB Bempton Cliffs in east Yorkshire since 2019.
Date: 27th June 2022
Location: RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire
The albatrosses are classified in the order Procellariiformes which also includes shearwaters, fulmars, storm petrels and diving petrels. All these birds share certain identifying features. They have nasal passages that attach to the upper bill called naricorns 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 7 and 9 horny plates and they have 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.
The Black-browed Albatross is a medium-sized albatross at 31 to 37 inches in length with a 79 to 94 inches wingspan. It has a dark grey saddle and upperwings that contrast with the white rump and underparts. The underwing is predominantly white with broad and irregular black margins. It has a dark eyebrow and a yellow-orange bill with a darker reddish-orange tip. Juveniles have dark horn-coloured bills with dark tips and a grey head and collar. They also have dark underwings. The features that distinguish it from other albatrosses 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 Black-browed Albatross is circumpolar in the southern oceans and it breeds on 12 islands throughout that range. In the Atlantic Ocean, it breeds on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and the Cape Horn Islands. In the Pacific Ocean it breeds on Islas Ildefonso, Diego de Almagro, Islas Evangelistas, Campbell Island, Antipodes Islands, Snares Islands and Macquarie Island. In the Indian Ocean it breeds on the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Island.
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 Falklands, 72,102 breed on South Georgia Island and 120,171 breed on the Chilean islands of Islas Ildefonso, Diego de Almagro, Islas Evangelistas and Islas Diego Ramírez.
Birds from the Falkland Islands winter near the Patagonian Shelf and birds from South Georgia forage in South African waters. It is the most likely albatross to be found in the North Atlantic due to this northerly migratory tendency.
The Black-browed Albatross normally nests on steep slopes covered with tussock grass and sometimes on cliffs although on the Falkland Islands it nests on flat grassland on the coast. It is an annual breeder with the female laying a single egg from between 20th September and 1st November although the Falkland Islands breeders lay about 3 weeks earlier. Incubation of the egg is undertaken 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 2 to 3 years but only to practice courtship rituals as they will only start breeding around their 10th year. The Black-browed Albatross can have a natural lifespan of over 70 years.
The Black-browed Albatross feeds on fish, squid, crustaceans, carrion, and fishery discards but it has also been observed stealing food from other species.
Until 2013, the IUCN classified the Black-browed Albatross as endangered due to a drastic reduction in its population. There has been a 67% decline in the population over 64 years. Increased longline fishing in the southern oceans, especially around the Patagonian Shelf and around South Georgia, has been attributed as a major cause of the decline of this bird and the Black-browed Albatross has been found to be the most common bird killed by fisheries. Trawl fishing, especially around the Patagonian Shelf and off South Africa, is also a large cause of deaths.
Conservation efforts underway start with this species being placed on the Convention on Migratory Species and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. It is being monitored on half of the islands and most of the breeding sites are reserves and some are World Heritage Sites.
Although a very rare occurrence, vagrancy into the North Atlantic has occurred including a bird which returned to the Gannet colony on Shetland for several decades from 1967. From 2014, another bird has been seen around the Heligoland archipelago off the Germany and Denmark coast and what is believed to be the same bird has summered at or around RSPB Bempton Cliffs in east Yorkshire since 2019.
Date: 27th June 2022
Location: RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire
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Also in: Albatrosses
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