Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses are found al­most ex­clu­sively in the South­ern Hemi­sphere, al­though oc­ca­sional sight­ings just north of the Equa­tor have been re­ported. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002)

There is some dis­agree­ment over how many sub­species of wan­der­ing al­ba­tross (Diomedea ex­u­lans) there are, and whether they should be con­sid­ered sep­a­rate species. Most sub­species of Diomedea ex­u­lans are dif­fi­cult to tell apart, es­pe­cially as ju­ve­niles, but DNA analy­ses have shown that sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ences exist. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002)

Diomedea ex­u­lans ex­u­lans breeds on South Geor­gia, Prince Ed­ward, Mar­ion, Crozet, Ker­gue­len, and Mac­quarie is­lands. Diomedea ex­u­lans dabbe­nena oc­curs on Gough and In­ac­ces­si­ble is­lands, rang­ing over the At­lantic Ocean to west­ern coastal Africa. Diomedea ex­u­lans an­tipo­den­sis is found pri­mar­ily on the An­tipodes of New Zealand, and ranges at sea from Chile to east­ern Aus­tralia. Diomedea ex­u­lans am­s­ter­damen­sis is found only on Am­s­ter­dam Is­land and the sur­round­ing seas. Other sub­species names that have be­come ob­so­lete in­clude Diomedea ex­u­lans gib­soni, now com­monly con­sid­ered part of D. e. an­tipo­den­sis, and Diomedea ex­u­lans chionoptera, con­sid­ered part of D. e. ex­u­lans. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002)

• Biogeographic Regions
• oceanic islands
  • native
• indian ocean
  • native
• atlantic ocean
  • native
• pacific ocean
  • native

Habi­tat

Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses breed on sev­eral sub­antarc­tic is­lands, which are char­ac­ter­ized by peat soils, tus­sock grass, sedges, mosses, and shrubs. Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses nest in shel­tered areas on plateaus, ridges, plains, or val­leys.

Out­side of the breed­ing sea­son, wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses are found only in the open ocean, where food is abun­dant. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002)

• Habitat Regions
• temperate
• polar
• terrestrial
• saltwater or marine

• Terrestrial Biomes
• savanna or grassland

• Aquatic Biomes
• pelagic
• coastal

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

All sub­species of wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses have ex­tremely long wingspans (av­er­ag­ing just over 3 me­ters), white un­der­wing coverts, and pink bills. Adult body plumage ranges from pure white to dark brown, and the wings range from being en­tirely black­ish to a com­bi­na­tion of black with white coverts and scapu­lars. They are dis­tin­guished from the closely re­lated royal al­ba­tross by their white eye­lids, pink bill color, lack of black on the max­illa, and head and body shape. On av­er­age, males have longer bills, tarsi, tails, and wings than fe­males. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

Ju­ve­niles of all sub­species are very much alike; they have choco­late-brown plumage with a white face and black wings. As in­di­vid­u­als age, most be­come pro­gres­sively whiter with each molt, start­ing with the back. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

D. e. ex­u­lans av­er­ages larger than other rec­og­nized sub­species, and is the only taxon that achieves fully white body plumage, and this only in males. Al­though fe­males do not be­come pure white, they can still be dis­tin­guished from other sub­species by color alone. Adults also have mostly white coverts, with black only on the pri­maries and sec­on­daries. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

Adults of D. e. am­s­ter­damen­sis have dark brown plumage with white faces and black crowns, and are dis­tin­guished from ju­ve­niles by their white bel­lies and throats. In ad­di­tion to their black tails, they also have a black stripe along the cut­ting edge of the max­illa, a char­ac­ter oth­er­wise found in D. epo­mophora but not other forms of D. ex­u­lans. Males and fe­males are sim­i­lar in plumage. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

Adults of D. e. an­tipo­den­sis dis­play sex­ual di­mor­phism in plumage, with older males ap­pear­ing white with some brown splotch­ing, while adult fe­males have mostly brown un­der­parts and a white face. Both sexes also have a brown breast band. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

With age, D. e. dabbe­nena grad­u­ally at­tains white plumage, al­though it never be­comes as white as male D. e. ex­u­lans. The wing coverts also ap­pear mostly black, al­though there may be white patches. Fe­males have more brown splotches than males, and have less white in their wing coverts. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike
• male larger
• sexes colored or patterned differently

• Average mass

  8130 g

  286.52 oz

  AnAge

• Range length

  1.1 to 1.35 m

  3.61 to 4.43 ft

• Range wingspan

  2.5 to 3.5 m

  8.20 to 11.48 ft

• Average wingspan

  3.1 m

  10.17 ft

• Average basal metabolic rate

  20.3649 W

  AnAge

Re­pro­duc­tion

Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses have a bi­en­nial breed­ing cycle, and pairs with chicks from the pre­vi­ous sea­son co-ex­ist in colonies with mat­ing and in­cu­bat­ing pairs. Pairs un­suc­cess­ful in one year may try to mate again in the same year or the next one, but their chances of suc­cess­fully rear­ing young are low. (Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

After for­ag­ing at sea, males ar­rive first at the same breed­ing site every year within days of each other. They lo­cate and reuse old nests or some­times cre­ate new ones. Fe­males ar­rive later, over the course of a few weeks. Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses have a monog­a­mous mat­ing strat­egy, form­ing pair bonds for life. Fe­males may bond tem­porar­ily with other males if their part­ner and nest are not read­ily vis­i­ble. (Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

• Mating System
• monogamous

Cop­u­la­tion oc­curs in the aus­tral sum­mer, usu­ally around De­cem­ber (Feb­ru­ary for D. e. am­s­ter­damen­sis). Rape and ex­tra-pair cop­u­la­tions are fre­quent, de­spite their monog­a­mous mat­ing strat­egy. Pairs nest on slopes or val­leys, usu­ally in the cover of grasses or shrubs. Nests are de­pres­sions lined with grass, twigs, and soil. A sin­gle egg is laid and, if in­cu­ba­tion or rear­ing fails, pairs usu­ally wait until the fol­low­ing year to try again. Both par­ents in­cu­bate eggs, which takes about 78 days on av­er­age. Al­though fe­males take the first shift, males are eager to take over in­cu­ba­tion and may force­fully push fe­males off the egg. Un­tended eggs are in dan­ger of pre­da­tion by skuas (Ster­co­rar­ius) and sheath­bills (Chio­nis). (Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

After the chick hatches, they are brooded for about 4 to 6 weeks until they can be left alone at the nest. Males and fe­males al­ter­nate for­ag­ing at sea. Fol­low­ing the brood­ing pe­riod, both par­ents leave the chick by it­self while they for­age. The chicks are en­tirely de­pen­dent on their par­ents for food for 9 to 10 months, and may wait weeks for them to re­turn. Chicks are en­tirely in­de­pen­dent once they fledge. (Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

Some in­di­vid­u­als may reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity by age 6. Im­ma­ture, non-breed­ing in­di­vid­u­als will re­turn to the breed­ing site. Group dis­plays are com­mon among non-breed­ing adults, but most breed­ing adults do not par­tic­i­pate. (Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• oviparous

• Breeding interval

  Breeding occurs biennially, possibly annually if the previous season's attempt fails.

• Breeding season

  Breeding occurs from December through March.

• Average eggs per season

  1

• Range time to hatching

  74 to 85 days

• Range fledging age

  7 to 10 months

• Range time to independence

  7 to 10 months

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  6 to 22 years

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  10 years

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  6 to 22 years

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  10 years

Males choose the nest­ing ter­ri­tory, and stay at the nest site more than fe­males be­fore in­cu­ba­tion. Par­ents al­ter­nate dur­ing in­cu­ba­tion, and later dur­ing brood­ing and feed­ing once the chick is old enough to be left alone at the nest. Al­though there is gen­er­ally equal parental in­vest­ment, males will tend to in­vest more as the chick nears fledg­ing. Oc­ca­sion­ally, a sin­gle par­ent may suc­cess­fully rear its chick. (Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

• Parental Investment
• altricial
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-independence
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses are long-lived. An in­di­vid­ual nick­named "Grandma" was recorded to live over 60 years in New Zealand. Due to the late onset of ma­tu­rity, with the av­er­age age at first breed­ing about 10 years, such longevity is not un­ex­pected. How­ever, there is fairly high chick mor­tal­ity, rang­ing from 30 to 75%. Their slow breed­ing cycle and late onset of ma­tu­rity make wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses highly sus­cep­ti­ble to pop­u­la­tion de­clines when adults are caught as by­catch in fish­ing nets. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

• Range lifespan
  Status: wild

  60 (high) years

• Average lifespan
  Status: wild

  415 months

  Bird Banding Laboratory

Be­hav­ior

While for­ag­ing at sea, wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses travel in small groups. Large feed­ing fren­zies may occur around fish­ing boats. In­di­vid­u­als may travel thou­sands of kilo­me­ters away from their breed­ing grounds, even oc­ca­sion­ally cross­ing the equa­tor.

Dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son, Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses are gre­gar­i­ous and dis­plays are com­mon (see “Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion” sec­tion, below). Vo­cal­iza­tions and dis­plays occur dur­ing mat­ing or ter­ri­to­r­ial de­fense. (Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

• Key Behaviors
• flies
• diurnal
• motile
• nomadic
• territorial
• social
• colonial

• Average territory size

  1 m^2

Home Range

Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses de­fend small nest­ing ter­ri­to­ries, oth­er­wise the range within which they travel is many thou­sands of square kilo­me­ters. (Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Dis­plays and vo­cal­iza­tions are com­mon when de­fend­ing ter­ri­tory or mat­ing. They in­clude croaks, bill-clap­ping, bill-touch­ing, sky­point­ing, trum­pet­ing, head-shak­ing, the "ec­sta­tic" ges­ture, and "the gawky-look". In­di­vid­u­als may also vo­cal­ize when fight­ing over food. (Shir­i­hai, 2002)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses pri­mar­ily eat fish, such as tooth­fish (Dis­sos­tichus), squids, other cephalopods, and oc­ca­sional crus­taceans. The pri­mary method of for­ag­ing is by sur­face-seiz­ing, but they have the abil­ity to plunge and dive up to 1 meter. They will some­times fol­low fish­ing boats and feed on catches with other Pro­cel­lari­iformes, which they usu­ally out­com­pete be­cause of their size. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002)

• Primary Diet
• carnivore
  • piscivore
  • molluscivore

• Animal Foods
• fish
• mollusks
• aquatic crustaceans

Pre­da­tion

Al­though hu­mans for­merly hunted wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses as food, adults cur­rently have no preda­tors. Their large size, sharp bill, and oc­ca­sion­ally ag­gres­sive be­hav­ior make them un­de­sir­able op­po­nents. How­ever, some are in­ad­ver­tently caught dur­ing large-scale fish­ing op­er­a­tions.

Chicks and eggs, on the other hand, are sus­cep­ti­ble to pre­da­tion from skuas and sheath­bills, and for­merly were har­vested by hu­mans as well. Eggs that fall out of nests or are un­at­tended are quickly preyed upon. Nests are fre­quently shel­tered with plant ma­te­r­ial to make them less con­spic­u­ous. Small chicks that are still in the brood­ing stage are easy tar­gets for large car­niv­o­rous seabirds. In­tro­duced preda­tors, in­clud­ing mice, pigs, cats, rats, and goats are also known to eat eggs and chicks. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; IUCN, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002; Tick­ell, 1968)

• Known Predators

  • skuas (Stercorariidae)
  • sheathbills (Chionis)
  • domestic cats (Felis silvestris)
  • introduced pigs (Sus scrofa)
  • introduced goats (Capra hircus)
  • introduced rats (Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus)
  • introduced mice (Mus musculus)

Ecosys­tem Roles

Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses are preda­tors, feed­ing on fish, cephalopods, and crus­taceans. They are known for their abil­ity to com­pete with other seabirds for food, par­tic­u­larly near fish­ing boats. Al­though adult birds, their eggs, and their chicks were for­merly a source of food to hu­mans, such prac­tices have been stopped. (IUCN, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses have ex­tra­or­di­nary mor­phol­ogy, with per­haps the longest wingspan of any bird. Their enor­mous size also makes them pop­u­lar in eco­tourism ex­cur­sions, es­pe­cially for bird­ers. De­clin­ing pop­u­la­tion num­bers also mean in­creased con­ser­va­tion ef­forts. Their rel­a­tive tame­ness to­wards hu­mans makes them ideal for re­search and study. (Shir­i­hai, 2002)

• Positive Impacts
• ecotourism
• research and education

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Wan­der­ing al­ba­trosses, along with other seabirds, fol­low fish­ing boats to take ad­van­tage of help­less fish and are re­puted to re­duce eco­nomic out­put from these fish­eries. Al­ba­trosses also be­come in­ci­den­tal by­catch, ham­per­ing con­ser­va­tion ef­forts. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; IUCN, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Diomedea ex­u­lans ex­u­lans and Diomedea ex­u­lans an­tipo­den­sis are listed by the IUCN Red list and Birdlife In­ter­na­tional as being vul­ner­a­ble; Diomedea ex­u­lans dabbe­nena is listed as en­dan­gered, and Diomedea ex­u­lans am­s­ter­damen­sis is listed as crit­i­cally en­dan­gered.

All sub­species of Diomedea ex­u­lans are highly vul­ner­a­ble to be­com­ing by­catch of com­mer­cial fish­eries, and pop­u­la­tion de­clines are mostly at­trib­uted to this. In­tro­duced preda­tors such as feral cats, pigs, goats, and rats on var­i­ous is­lands leads to high mor­tal­ity rates of chicks and eggs. Diomedea ex­u­lans am­s­ter­damen­sis is listed as crit­i­cally en­dan­gered due to in­tro­duced preda­tors, risk of be­com­ing by­catch, small pop­u­la­tion size, threat of chick mor­tal­ity by dis­ease, and loss of habi­tat to cat­tle farm­ing.

Some con­ser­va­tion mea­sures that have been taken in­clude re­moval of in­tro­duced preda­tors from is­lands, list­ing breed­ing habi­tats as World Her­itage Sites, fish­ery re­lo­ca­tion, and pop­u­la­tion mon­i­tor­ing. (Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006; IUCN, 2006; Shir­i­hai, 2002)

• IUCN Red List

  Vulnerable
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Vulnerable
  More information

• US Migratory Bird Act

  No special status

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

Con­trib­u­tors

Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Lau­ren Scopel (au­thor), Michi­gan State Uni­ver­sity, Pamela Ras­mussen (ed­i­tor, in­struc­tor), Michi­gan State Uni­ver­sity.

Ref­er­ences

Birdlife In­ter­na­tional, 2006. "Species fact­sheets" (On-line). Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 07, 2006 at http://​www.​birdlife.​org.

IUCN, 2006. "2006 IUCN Red List of Threat­ened Species" (On-line). Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 06, 2006 at http://​www.​iucnredlist.​org.

Shir­i­hai, H. 2002. The Com­plete Guide to Antarc­tic Wildlife. New Jer­sey: Prince­ton Uni­ver­sity Press.

Tick­ell, W. 1968. Bi­ol­ogy of Great Al­ba­trosses. Pp. 1-53 in Antarc­tic Bird Stud­ies. Bal­ti­more: Horn-Schafer.