Strangely, the Black-Footed Albatross is attracted to floating objects, including the exposed dorsal fin of sharks. However, they will avoid a swimming human. Furthermore, Black-Footed Albatrosses will not approach ships in Asiatic or Aleutian waters where birds have been treated with cruelty in the past. A main predator of albatross chicks is the Norwegian rat, which eats the eggs and small chicks. Once the chick begins to fly, its main predator is the tiger shark. (Palmer, 1962)
Known Predators:
The Black-Footed Albatross is all dark grey except for some white feathers near the bill and on the underside of the tail. There is no seasonal variation in their plumage.
Average length is 27-29 inches with a wingspan of about 7 feet. Males and females are relatively monomorphic, except that the male's beak averages slightly larger. Average body weight is 7-8 pounds. (Palmer, 1962;
Reilly, 1968)
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
The mean life-span of the Black-Footed Albatross is thought to be about 36 years.(Palmer, 1962)
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 488 months.
The Black-Footed Albatross prefers vast open water and sandy beaches on islands for breeding.
(Palmer, 1962; Reilly, 1968)
Habitat Regions: saltwater or marine
Aquatic Biomes: pelagic
The Black-Footed Albatross is a pelagic species which is found all over the North Pacific.
(Palmer, 1962; Reilly, 1968)
Biogeographic Regions: pacific ocean (Native )
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
In 1996, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and the US Fish and Wildlife Service held a workshop for fishermen. The workshop taught techniques and told of inexpensive equipment to use to limit the catch of albatrosses. According to the USFWS, 2,000 Black-Footed Albatrosses are killed each year by fishermen's lines. Considering the fact that albatrosses reach sexual maturity at such a late age, this loss can have a substantial impact on the species. (Tummons, 1996)
US Migratory Bird Act: protected
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: no special status
The Black-Footed Albatross is one of the waste managers of the ocean. They will eat any edible floating debirs, including garbage and animal matter. (Palmer, 1962; Reilly, 1968)
Black-Footed Albatrosses eat edible refuse of all kinds, and are sometimes called the "feathered pig." Although fond of fatty materials, this species' diet is mainly composed of fish, fish offal, fish eggs, crabs, other crustaceans, squids and galley garbage. (Palmer, 1962; Reilly, 1968)
Primary Diet: carnivore (Piscivore , Eats eggs, Scavenger )
The Black-Footed Albatross selects a mate early in life and remains with that mate until death. (Palmer, 1962).
Mating System: monogamous
Black-Footed Albatrosses are colonial nesters which begin copulating before arriving on their breeding grounds in October through early November. The male arrives about 20 days prior to the female to begin the nest building process and to reclaim their territory from the previous year. Once the female arrives, the pair engages in additional copulation and reinforces the pair-bond by performing the mutual display in which two birds approach and perform a rapid dance. The nest is usually on exposed, sandy beaches with many other pelagic bird species. Nest building is usually contributed to by both male and female and takes only a few hours. This nest is reused in future years. (Palmer, 1962)
When a Black-Footed Albatross hatches, the eyes are open and the nestling is covered with down, which takes about 6 hours to dry. At 2-3 months, the chick may begin to wander away from its parents' territory, but must return to the nest for feedings. The chick permanently leaves the nest at 6 months.
It is thought that Black-Footed Albatrosses do not reproduce until 9 years of age, although a mate may be selected earlier. Once a mate has been chosen, the pair remains together for life. (Palmer, 1962)
Breeding season: October through May
Range eggs per season: 1 to 1.
Range time to hatching: 63 to 67 days.
Range fledging age: 5 to 6 months.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 8 to 10 years.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 8 to 10 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); oviparous
The pair typically produces one egg, which the male and female incubate in turn. Once the egg has been laid, aggressive behavior between neighboring pairs increases. If the egg is lost to predation or other natural disaster, no replacement clutch is laid. The pair will wait until the next year to renest. Sometimes, wind storms bury the nest with egg or chick in sand, and the pair is forced to abandon their breeding efforts for that year.
Once the chick hatches, the parents remain at the nest at all times for 15-24 days in rotating shifts. The parent that is not on duty at the nest is responsible for gathering food. (Palmer, 1962; Reilly, 1968)
Parental Investment: altricial ; male parental care ; female parental care
The black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae from the North Pacific. All but 2.5% of the population is found among the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is one of three species of albatross that range in the northern hemisphere, nesting on isolated tropical islands. Unlike many albatrosses, it is dark plumaged.
Black-footed albatrosses are a type of albatross that belong to family Diomedeidae of the order Procellariiformes, along with shearwaters, fulmars, storm petrels, and diving petrels. They share certain identifying features. First, 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 seven and nine horny plates. Finally, they produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used both against predators and as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.[4] They also have a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage 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.[5]
The specific epithet of nigripes is derived from two Latin words, niger meaning "black", and pes meaning "foot".[6]
The black-footed albatross is a small member of the albatross family (while still large compared to most other seabirds) that has almost all black plumage. Some adults show white undertail coverts, and all adults have white markings around the base of the beak and below the eye. As the birds age they acquire more white at the base of the beak.[7][8] Its beak and feet are also all dark. They have only the one plumage.[7][9] They measure 68 to 74 cm (27–29 in),[10] have a wingspan of 190 to 220 cm (6.2–7.2 ft),[8][11][12] and weigh 2.6–4.3 kg (5.7–9.5 lb).[13] Males, at an average weight of 3.4 kg (7.5 lb) are larger than females, at an average of 3 kg (6.6 lb).[7]
The black-footed albatross, along with the Laysan albatross and the rare short-tailed albatross, are the three species of albatross that range in the northern hemisphere, as opposed to the rest of the family which range from the Equator south. There are at least 12 known breeding locations, but 97.5% of the total population is found colonially on the isolated Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, from Kure Atoll to Kaula Island,[3] (such as Laysan, Midway, and the French Frigate Shoals). Small populations can be found on the Japanese islands of Tori Shima, Bonin, and Senkaku, and off the Mexican coast, primarily on Isla Guadalupe.[14] They are extirpated from the Iwo Jima, Agrihan, Taongi Atoll, Marcus Island, Wake Island, and Johnston Island.[3] Their range at sea varies during the seasons (straying farther from the breeding islands when the chicks are older or they don't have chicks) but they make use of great areas of the North Pacific, feeding from Alaska to California and Japan; however they do prefer the northeastern Pacific Ocean.[14] They overlap greatly in breeding and feeding range with the other two species of northern albatross, although the other two will range further north into the Bering Sea than the Black-footed will. They have, on occasion, been sighted in the southern hemisphere.[14]
Their vocalization will range from shrieks and squeals whilst fighting over food to bill-clapping, whistles, groans,[9] and quacks while courting.[8]
The black-footed albatross, like the rest of its family, forms long term pair-bonds that last for life. After fledging the birds return to the colony after three years, and spend two years building nests, dancing and being with prospective mates, a behaviour that probably evolved to ensure maximum trust between the birds (raising an albatross chick is a massive energetic investment, and a long courting period establishes for both birds that the other is committed). They will start reproducing after about seven years,[8] mating every two years.[15]
Nests are simple depressions scraped in the sand,[14] into which one dull white with reddish brown spots egg is laid.[8][9] The egg is incubated for just over two months (65 days). Both birds incubate the egg, the male incubating more as the female leaves soon after hatching to recoup reserves used for egg-laying. The average time spent on incubating shifts is 18 days. However, mates can wait up to 38 days to be relieved, and if something happens to the mate the other has been recorded incubating for 49 days without food or water.
The chick is brooded for 20 days by its parents, after which both parents leave the nest and return to feed the chick. The chick is fed regurgitated food by sticking its bill inside that of its parent. Fledging occurs after 140 days.
The black-footed albatross feeds in pelagic waters, taking the eggs of flying fish, live fish, fish offal,[16] squid and to a lesser extent crustaceans. It will also consume floating debris, including plastics.[8][14]
The black-footed albatross is considered near threatened by the IUCN,[1] because it is taken incidentally by longline fishing. An estimated 4,000 are taken every year, based on the number taken in 1990; other estimates put the number at 8,000,[14] although more recent numbers are at around 6,150 per year with the majority of deaths from Taiwanese and Japanese fishing fleets. It is also vulnerable to oil and ingestion of floating plastics, which reduces the space in the stomach available for food to be brought to the chick. Finally volcanic eruptions on Torishima continues to be a threat.
The black-footed albatross has an occurrence range of 37,600,000 km2 (14,500,000 sq mi) and a breeding range of 28 km2 (11 sq mi), with a population of 129,000 adult birds. Of these birds 24,000 pairs breed on Midway Atoll and 21,000 pairs breed on Laysan Island. Torishima has 1,218 pairs, the Bonin Islands have 23 pairs and there are about 400 pairs on offshore Mexican islands with 337 on Islas Guadalupe. All of these numbers come from estimates from 2005 to 2007.[14]
All of its nesting sites in the U.S. are protected, along with a 50 nmi (93 km) buffer zone around these islands. Within this buffer zone longline fishing is outlawed. Almost 80% of the breeding population is counted or sampled each year and most fisheries utilize seabird bycatch prevention measures.[14]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) (2011) The black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae from the North Pacific. All but 2.5% of the population is found among the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is one of three species of albatross that range in the northern hemisphere, nesting on isolated tropical islands. Unlike many albatrosses, it is dark plumaged.
