Our Beautiful World

The North Pacific Albatrosses, Phoebastria
.
Waved Albatross, Phoebastria irrorata
Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis (
Diomedea immutabilis)
Black-footed Albatross, Phoebastria nigripes
Short-tailed Albatross
, Phoebastria albatrus (Diomedea albatrus) 




.
Waved Albatross, Phoebastria irrorata
Galapagosalbatross



Red List Category & Criteria: CR B2ab(v) ver 3.1 (2001)
Year Assessed: 2007, Assessor/s: BirdLife International
Evaluator/s: Bird, J., Butchart, S. (BirdLife International Red List Authority) & Sullivan, B.
(BirdLife International Global Seabirds Programme)
Justification: This species has been uplisted to Critically Endangered because new evidence shows that it now
appears to be declining, primarily owing to bycatch in longline fisheries. This, combined with its extremely
small breeding range on a single island, means that it is now highly threatened.
History: 1988 - Near-threatened (Collar and Andrew 1988)
1994 - Lower Risk/near threatened (Collar, Crosby and Stattersfield 1994)
2000 - Vulnerable (BirdLife International 2000)
2003 - Vulnerable (IUCN 2003)
2004 - Vulnerable (BirdLife International 2004)
2005 - Vulnerable (BirdLife International 2005)

BirdLife International 2007. Phoebastria irrorata. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 13 April 2008.

  
Waved Albatross, Hood Island (aka Isla Espanola). Hood Island has 12,000 breeding pairs of waved albatross, and is the only known
breeding colony. These birds mate for life, and fly 25 million miles during their lifetime. Their complex pair-bonding display includes
bill-dueling, neighing, snapping their bills like castanets, head-bobbing, sway-walking, and this move, called the open gate.

© John Schwarz, www.birdspix.com

The Waved Albatross, Phoebastria irrorata - also known as Galapagos Albatross -
is the only member of the Diomedeidae family located in the tropics.
When they forage, the Waved Albatross follow straight paths to a single site off the coast of Peru,
about 1,000 km distant to the east. During the non-breeding season, these birds reside primarily
in the areas of the Ecuador and Peruvian coasts. A waved albatrosse's life span is up to 40-45 years.

These are medium-sized albatrosses, measuring about 86 cm (34 in) long,
weighing in at 3.4 kg (7.5 lbs) and having a wingspan 2.27 m (7.5 ft).

They are distinctive for their yellowish-cream neck and head,
which contrasts with their mostly brownish bodies.
Even more distinctive is the very long, bright yellow bill.
Chicks when they are born are very small and have brown fluffy feathers.


Waved Albatross - courting ritual, Española Island, Galapagos, July 22, 2007
© John Schwarz, www.birdspix.com

The primary food sources of the Waved Albatross are fish, squid, and crustaceans.
But they have also been observed to scavenge for other food sources,
including the regurgitated food of other birds.
When foraging the Waved Albatross finds points in the ocean where prey will be more surfaced,
this is the most effective way for the waved albatross to get its food.
Waved Albatroses will forage 10 or even 100 kilometers away from the place
where their chicks are nesting to get food for them.

The population of Waved Albatrosses on the Galápagos is protected by national park personnel.
But limited range, bycatch by long-line fishing, disturbance via tourism, disease,
and the effects of illegal fishing in the nearby waters place them in considerable jeopardy.

Especially long-line fishing seems to be making a severe impact in the species,
which was uplisted to Vulnerable from Near Threateened by the IUCN in 2000.
Despite some 34,700 adult birds still occurring in 2001, their numbers have apparently
started to decrease at an unknown rate more recently,
probably due to longline fishing which also upsets the sex ratio (males being killed more frequently).
As the current situation makes the population highly vulnerable to a catastrophic collapse to extinction,
it is uplisted to Critically Endangered status in the 2007 IUCN Red List.


Waved Albatross - pair, Española Island, Galapagos, July 22, 2007
© John Schwarz, www.birdspix.com

The Waved Albatross breeds exclusively on Española Island in the Galápagos archipelago.
The nests are built on areas of lava with boulders and sparse vegetation.
The courtship of the Waved Albatross is a very elusive and spectacular site to see, it includes:
rapid bill circling and bowing, beak clacking, and an upraised bill to make a whoo hoo sound.

When the eggs are laid, they are laid between April and June, and incubated for two months after that. When the eggs hatch the chicks stay together in small nursuries, while the parents go out to sea to hunt. When the parents return they may feed the chicks up to 2kg of oil. The young reach adult size by December and leave the colony by January. The partners mate until one of the partners dies.


Waved Albatross in flight, Española Island, Galapagos, July 22, 2007
© John Schwarz, www.birdspix.com

Waved Albatross are spectacular flyers perhaps even the most famous.
They can fly for hours without stalling and they do this by dynamic soaring.
The wind speed near the surface of the sea is much slower then about 50feet in the air.
The waved albatross uses this to its advantage by gliding at speed into the wind.
As the Waved Albatross glides higher it loses most of its ground speed
because it is gliding into a wind of a higher speed.
However, though they lose their ground speed because they are gliding into a wind of a higher speed their air speed does not fall, enabling them to glide continuously.


Waved Albatroses do however because of their huge wings and slender bodies
have difficulty taking off and landing.
To make it easier they take off on cliffs that are more inland and not next to the coast.
The problem is when they come into land they have a high stalling speed,
when they take off its hard to beat their massive wings.

Text from http://en.wikipedia.org


Laysan Albatross, Diomedea (Phoebastria) immutabilis


Laysan albatross flying in air
Photo: Lusk, Michael / FWS (http://www.fws.gov/midway )



The Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis, is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. This small gull-like albatross
is the second most common seabird in the Hawaiian Islands, with an estimated population of 2.5 million birds,
and is currently expanding its range to new islands. It was first described in 1893 when found on Laysan Island.


From www.lib.utexas.edu

The Laysan Albatross averages 81 cm (32 in) in length, weighs 2.4–4.1 kg (5.3–9.0 lb), and has a wingspan of 195–203 cm (77–80 in),
with males being larger than females. This albatross has blackish-grey upperwing, mantle, back, upper rump, and tail, and their head,
lower rump, and underparts are white. Juveniles have a grey bill and a dark upper rump.

The Laysan Albatross is usually easy to identify, in the North Pacific it is simple to separate from the other relatively common albatross,
the all black Black-footed Albatross. It can be distinguished from the very rare Short-tailed Albatross by its all dark back and smaller size.


Albatross standing on shore
Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / FWS

The Laysan Albatross has a wide range across the North Pacific with 16 nesting sites.
Its main breeding colonies are in the Hawaiian Islands, particularly the islands of Midway and Laysan.
It also nests in the Bonin Islands near Japan, the French Frigate Shoals, and has recently began to colonize islands off Mexico,
such as Guadalupe Island and others in the Revillagigedo Archipelago. When away from the breeding areas they range widely from
Japan to the Bering Sea and south to 15°N.





Layson Albatross on nest
Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / FWS

The Laysan Albatross is colonial, nesting on scattered small islands and atolls, often in huge numbers, and builds different styles
of nests depending on the surroundings, ranging from simple scoops in the sand to nests using vegetation.


Close up of head shot of two laysan albatrosses with rest of colony in the rear
Photo: Lusk, Michael / FWS (http://www.fws.gov/midway )


The IUCN has classified the Laysan Albatross as vulnerable due to drastic reductions in populations; however recent studies show
that the population may be rebounding. The Laysan Albatross, while a common species, has not yet recovered from the wide-scale
hunting that happened in the early 1900s, with feather hunters killing many hundreds of thousands, and wiping them out from
Wake Island and Johnston Atoll.

Text this page from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laysan_Albatross


extra:
On December 13th, 2016 following was found on the net:

At approximately 66 years old, the world's oldest known seabird is expecting, again.
The Laysan albatross called Wisdom is incubating an egg at the same nesting her and her mate use each year
on Midway Island, which is located on the far northern end of the Hawaiian archipelago.

The refuge's oldest resident is also the world's oldest known breeding bird in the wild.

Wisdom, spotted by biologists earlier this month, has successfully raised and fledged at least nine chicks since 2006.
She has traveled an estimated three million miles in her lifetime.
Laysan albatross do not lay eggs every year and when they do, they raise only one chick at a time, the contribution
of even one bird to the population makes a difference, biologists say.

Midway Atoll is home to the world's largest colony of albatross. Nearly 70 percent of the world's Laysan Albatross
and almost 40 percent of Black-footed Albatross, as well as endangered Short-tailed Albatross all rely on the Refuge.

Albatross start to arrive to return from sea to breed in late October and by the end of November nearly every available
nesting space on the atoll is claimed by a breeding pair.

There are 20 different birds species that rely on Midway Atoll, in addition to the over one million albatross. In total,
over three million individual birds call the Refuge home.

Copyright ©1999-2016 Chinanews.com




Black Footed Albatross, Phoebastria nigripes,
No: Svartfotalbatross, 

Black Goony


A pair of Black-footed Albatrosses, Sand Island, Midway Atoll
Copyright ©2002 William H. Scholtz.


Red List Category & Criteria: EN A3bd ver 3.1 (2001)
Year Assessed: 2005 Assessor/s: BirdLife International
Evaluator/s: Butchart, S., Stattersfield, A. (BirdLife International Red List Authority), Sullivan, B.
(BirdLife International Global Seabirds Programme) & Croxall, J. (British Antarctic Survey)
Justification: This species is listed to Endangered on the basis of a projected future decline
of more than 60% over the next three generations (56 years), taking account of present rates of incidental
mortality in longline fisheries in the north Pacific Ocean.
History: 1988 - Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2004)
1994 - Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2004)
2000 - Vulnerable (BirdLife International 2000)
2003 - Endangered (IUCN 2003)
2004 - Endangered (BirdLife International 2004)

©IUCN 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 9th April 2008.


The Black-footed Albatross is a small member of the family that has almost all black plumage.
(while still large compared to most other seabirds)

10% of individuals have white feathers at the base of the tail,
and all adults have white markings around the base of the beak and below the eye.
Its beak and feet are also all dark.
They average at about 81 cm (32 in) in length, weigh about 3.3 kg (7.4 lbs)
and have a wingspan of 2.1 m (6.9 ft).


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.


Black-footed Albatross chick at sunset. Sand Island, Midway Atoll

They nest colonially on isolated islands of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
(such as Laysan and Midway), and the Japanese islands of Tori Shima, Bonin, and Senkaku.
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.

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.



A pair of Black-footed Albatrosses dancing Sand Island, Midway Atoll
These are Teenagers, widows, widowers, or divorcees.
Teenagers in that they have not paired yet, widows or widowers in that their mates have died,
or divorcees in that after several unsuccessful attempts to have offspring, they split assuming the problem is with the other.
The un-paired birds spend much of their time during about a six month period dancing.
If the paring works well they will mate next season.

Copyright ©2002 William H. Scholtz.

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 is necessary 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).

Nests are simple depressions scraped in the sand, into which one egg is laid.
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.


A f Black-footed Albatross, Sand Island, Midway Atoll
Copyright ©2002 William H. Scholtz.


The Black-footed Albatross feeds in pelagic waters, taking fish, mostly the eggs of flying fish,
squid and to a lesser extent crustaceans.
It has been described as a 'floating pig' by one author for its habit of taking kitchen scraps from ships.
It will also consume floating debris, including plastics.

The Black-footed Albatross is considered endangered,
because it is taken incidentally by long-line fishing.
An estimated 4,000 are taken every year, based on the number taken in 1990;
other estimates put the number at 8,000.

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.
Text above from http://en.wikipedia.org



   
Left: Feeding Laysan Albatross and Black-footed Albatross chicks
Right: Hybrid Laysan/Black-footed Albatross trying to dance with Laysan Albatrosses:
This bird looks closer to a Laysan but dances closer to a Black-footed. In any case it can't find a mate.

Although this hybrid combination is not common, it has been recorded many times.


Phoebastria nigripes breeds on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (USA),
the US Minor Outlying Islands and three outlying islands of Japan,
colonies having been lost from other Pacific islands.

In 2000, the population was estimated at 109,000 breeding birds (278,000 total) at 12
localities, including c.23,000 and 20,500 pairs on Laysan and Midway Islands, respectively.

On Torishima, 20 chicks were reared in 1964, compared to 914 from 1,219 pairs in 19984.

Monitoring data from three colonies in Hawaii, where over 75% of the world's
population nests, suggests that numbers may have decreased by 9.6% from 1992 to 2001.
Population models predict that under a moderate bycatch scenario
(assuming 8,000 birds are taken Pacific-wide)
this species will experience a 60% decrease in numbers over the next three generations
if bycatch mortality is not reduced through mitigation measures over this time period.

The species disperses widely over the north Pacific Ocean,
with occasional records in the Southern Hemisphere
©IUCN 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 9th April 2008.




Short-tailed Albatross, Phoebastria albatrus (Diomedea albatrus)
Steller's Albatross

Red List Category & Criteria: EN VU D2 ver 3.1 (2001)
Year Assessed: 2006 Assessor/s: BirdLife International
Evaluator/s: Butchart, S. & Pilgrim, J. (BirdLife International Red List Authority)
Justification: This species is listed as Vulnerable because, although conservation efforts have resulted in a
steady population increase, it still has a very small breeding range, limited to Torishima and the Senkaku Islands.
History: 1988 - Threatened (Collar and Andrew 1988)
1994 - Endangered (Collar, Crosby and Stattersfield 1994)
2000 - Vulnerable (BirdLife International 2000)
2003 - Vulnerable (IUCN 2003)
2004 - Vulnerable (BirdLIfe International 2004)
2005 - Vulnerable (BirdLife International 2005)

©IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 9th April 2008



Photo: Short-tailed Albatross, Phoebastria albatrus. Taken by - James Lloyd. Place - Eastern island, Midway Atoll. March 2007.
Copyright (C) 2007 James Lloyd
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

The Short-tailed Albatross or Steller's Albatross, Phoebastria albatrus/Diomedea albatrus
is a large rare seabird from the North Pacific.
Although related to the other North Pacific albatrosses, it also exhibits behavioural and
morphological links to the albatrosses of the Southern Ocean.
It was described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas from skins collected
by the intrepid Georg Wilhelm Steller (after whom its other common name is derived).
Once common, it was brought to the edge of extinction by the trade in feathers,
but with protection has recently made a recovery.


Again we run into the confusious latin-names: (2008?)
See how this has changed as per April 2012 (blue)

Diomedea albatrus
Phoebastria albatrus
Steller's Albatross
Short Tailed Albatross
Goggle text:
19.500
871.000?
24.700
108.000
43.800
159.000
70.400
190.000
Google images:
286
6.430
251
4.350
757
39.700
14.700
75.600

Conclusion: Short Tailed Albatross, Phoebastria albatrus
As per 2012 it ought to be Diomedea albatrus, but please see Taxonomy in Albatross main-page.

The Short-tailed Albatross is a large bird, with a wingspan of 2.37 m (7.9 ft),
a length of 90 cm (3 ft) and a body weight of 4.3 kg (9.5 lbs).
It can be distinguished from the other two species of albatross in its range,
the Laysan Albatross and the Black-footed Albatross
by its larger size and its pink bill (with a bluish tip), as well as details of its plumage.

Contrary to its name its tail is no shorter than that of the Laysan or Black-footed,
and is actually longer than that of the other member of the genus Phoebastria, the Waved Albatross.
Its plumage as an adult is overall white with black wings and a yellow-stained head.
The juveniles are an all-over brown colour.



Photograph by ©Hiroshi Hasegawa, Japanese researcher
http://www.iphc.washington.edu

Short-tailed Albatrosses now nest on only one island, the Japanese island of
Tori Shima (Izu Tori Shima) (See more below).
When at sea feeding they range across the North Pacific, particularly in the Bering Sea
where the largest numbers are seen today, but also as far east as California.
Historically Torishima was the most important breeding colony but they also bred on islands
from Taiwan north, as well as the Bonin Islands.


The Short-tailed Albatross came perilously close to extinction.
They were hunted on an almost industrial scale for their feathers in the later half of the 19th century
with some estimates claiming upward of 10 million birds hunted.
By the 1930s the only population left was on Torishima, between 1927 and until 1933
hunting continued when the Japanese government declared the ban of hunting to save the species,
after which the albatrosses stopped breeding on the island.
At this point the species was assumed to be extinct and research became impossible
with the outbreak of World War II.
On 1949 an American researcher arriving on this island declared the species to be extinct,
but an estimated 50 individuals, most likely juveniles, survived at sea
(all albatross species take a long time to reach sexual maturity
and will not return to their natal colony for many years).

After the return of the birds they were more carefully protected,
and the first egg was laid by the returning birds in 1954.
Varieties of albatross decoys were placed around on the island after it was discovered
that like other albatross species, this species also were enticed to breed if placed in a group.
Since then with the aid of protection efforts, the population has increased
to an estimated 1840 birds as of 2003.
Text from http://en.wikipedia.org with references there from
BirdLife International (2006). Phoebastria albatrus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is vulnerable and the criteria used
Brooke, M. (2004). Albatrosses And Petrels Across The World: Procellariidae. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK ISBN 0-19-850125-0
del Hoyo, Josep, Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (1992). Handbook of Birds of the World Vol 1. Barcelona:Lynx Edicions, ISBN 84-87334-10-5
Tickell, W.L.N. (2000). Atitslbatrosses Sussex:Pica press, ISBN 1-873403-94-1

Stupid bird?
In the Japanese language the albatross is known as ahohdori. Ahoh means "stupid"
and dori means bird, so ahohdori literally means stupid-bird.

It seems the reason for this rather disgraceful name is related to the circumstances
surrounding its near extinction.

At the end of 19th century people moved from Hachijo Island,
located almost 300Km south of Tokyo, to Trishima Island, about 300Km further south.
There they killed Short-tailed Albatross Diomedea albatrus in large numbers,
and used their feathers to stuff quilts.

The bird was apparently named ahohdori because it didn't fly away,
even when confronted by the sight of its fellow birds being killed.
http://www.yamashina.or.jp
(not found as perSept 2010)



New home found for albatrosses

A team of Japanese and U.S. researchers promoting the protection of the albatross,
an endangered seabird,
has selected the Ogasawara Islands as a potential new breeding ground for the birds.



http://www.demis.nl
Currently, Torishima in the Izu Islands is the nation's largest breeding ground for albatrosses,
but the team fears the site could be threatened by a volcanic eruption.
The albatrosses migrate between Torishima and Alaska and have been officially designated
an endangered species by the U.S. government, which is drawing up a plan
for the conservation of the species.

Japanese researchers have joined the movement as well,
last year setting up the Japan-U.S. albatross recovery team.

The Ogasawara Islands are under Tokyo's jurisdiction
and are located about 300 kilometers south of Torishima.
Albatrosses nested there untilthe 1930s.

But persuading the birds to return could be difficult.
Since it is not easy to transfer chicks from one breeding ground to another,
the team is researching ways to get the birds to switch islands of their own accord.

This could include increasing albatross numbers on Torishima
until overcrowding prompts the birds to seek a new home.

Existing albatross conservation efforts have been fruitful,
with anestimated 1,655 birds on Torishima as of April.

But after an eruption in August 2002, the team decided it was essential
to find an alternative location for the bird sanctuary
.
Text from ©2004 The Yomiuri Shimbun

Status of the Short-tailed Albatross, Diomedea albatrus
and Its Conservation and Breeding Project September 22, 2006

The Ministry of the Environment is pleased to announce that it has succeeded in relocating a colony of Short-tailed Albatross - 13 chicks were identified at a new breeding site at Hatsunezaki on Torishima Island during its monitoring conducted in February 2006.
On the entire Torishima Island, Toho University's monitoring in April 2006 observed
the fledging of 195 chicks, the largest number since the university's monitoring began.
The total population of the Short-tailed Albatross at present in Torishima Island is estimated around 1,830.

A project to guide Short-tailed Albatross to form new colonies in the Ogasawara Islands was launched this year. Mukojima Island, part of the Ogasawara Islands, was selected as their new breeding site. This year, the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, with the cooperation of the U.S. Government, plans to conduct an experiment in which they translocate chicks of
the Black-footed Albatross, a relative species to the Short-tailed Albatross,
to Mukojima Island from other islands of the Mukojima Archipelago and raise them to fledge.

http://www.env.go.jp


Bering Sea Ice Expedition
Daily Log from USCGC Healy:

Thursday, April 26, 2007
When we reached the southern-most station along this line in water over 2300 m deep,
the Laysan albatross approached the boat with a companion; a larger, all-dark bird with a
massive pink "bubble-gum" bill: a juvenile Short-tailed Albatross, Phoebastria albatrus.
Everybody in the bridge jumped for joy. This endangered albatross, with an estimated world
population of approximately 1800 birds, breeds south of Japan in Torishima (Izu Islands) and
Minami Kojima (Senkaku Islands).


Photo by T.Sullivan

In spite of its recovery from the brink of extinction in 1949, this species remains
well below its historical abundance, an estimated population of above
1 million birds at the beginning of the 20th century.

Short-tailed albatross adults and juveniles disperse from the breeding colonies
in the western Pacific to the Bering Sea, where they concentrate along the shelf-break
and the Aleutian passes (Amchitka, Seguam, Buldir).
Satellite tracking studies have followed the migrations of these birds into the Bering Sea
and all the way to the West Coast of North America (www.wfu.edu/biology/albatross/shorttail/shorttail2.htm).

These albatross sightings off the Pribilof Islands highlight the importance of
the Bering Sea as a foraging ground and a nursery for many far-ranging species,
including marine birds and mammals.
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov




April 8, 2008:
Ten Short-tailed Albatross, Phoebastria albatrus, chicks have been moved by helicopter,
from their current stronghold on Torishima Island to the site of a former colony
350 km to the South-east.

The translocation site, Mukojima, part of Japan’s Bonin Islands, is non-volcanic.
Short-tailed Albatross bred here at least until the 1920s.

The ten chicks had reached the "post-guard" state, when parents leave them
alone for increasing periods, but were still some three months away from fledging.
The key assumption to this approach is that geographic imprinting on the
nesting island occurs after this time; chicks that fledge from a translocation site
will return to breed at their fledging site, not their hatching site.

START personnel, who hand-reared Laysan and Black-footed Albatross,
Phoebastria nigripes chicks in preparation for this project, will spend the next three
months feeding the chicks, before they take wing and head out to sea.
It will be five years before they reach sexual maturity and are ready to return to breed.
http://www.surfbirds.com


September 11, 2011
Endangered Short-tailed Albatross Killed by Fishing Boat Off the Coast of Oregon
An endangered Short-tailed Albatross was killed by a longline fishing boat off the coast of Oregon in April 2011, according to a report recently released by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council. This is the first bycatch of a Short-tailed Albatross to be observed in the Pacific Northwest.
http://www.surfbirds.com/sbirdsnews/archives/2011/09/endangered_shor_1.html

Nov 02, 2011

For the years 2001-2010, chart indicates locations (brown dots) of all STAL during Sept to Nov.
Data were obtained from birds tagged with satellite transmitters from 2001-2010. The most recent take
(October 25, 2011) is depicted by a green star.
All other documented STAL takes in Alaska fisheries for 1983 to 2010 are depicted by red stars.
The world population of the endangered short-tailed albatross is currently estimated at about 3,500 individuals.
This is the first take in the two-year period that began on September 16, 2011.

Credits: Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, Oregon State University, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Ministry of Environment Japan.

An endangered short-tailed albatross, one of the world’s rarest birds, was accidentally killed last week in the hook-and-line commercial long-line cod fishery in the Bering Sea, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service in Alaska.

The bird died Oct. 25. A leg band identified it as less than 2 years old and from a breeding colony in Japan. Torishima and Minami-kojima islands in Japan are the only active breeding colonies in the world, although single nests have been found at other sites, including Midway Island.

The worldwide short-tailed albatross population, once numbering the millions, is down to some 3,500 birds, according to Kim Rivera, the national seabird coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/endangered-albatross-killed-alaska-commercial-long-liner


April 20th, 2012
It is reported that 10 Short-tailed Albatrosses have showed up on several Hawaiian Islands recently.
This also found place during the breeding season, which is most extraordinary.
Three birds have also been seen recently on Kure Atoll, 5 on Midway Island, one on Laysan Island
and one on Tern Island.
On Midway the same pair of birds had successfull breeding efforts both in 2011 and 2012.

Look here for more about this bird:
http://www.fws.gov/midway/wildlife/stal.html
(not foundasperSept 2010)


© Mainichi Shimbun / The Suntory Fund for Bird Preservation



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ANIMALS

over 250

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BIRDS

over 500

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FLOWERS

over 225
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