Black-browed Albatross

Black-browed albatrosses are one of the commonest albatrosses in the world. About 70% of birds breed at the Falkland Islands/Malvinas in the south west Atlantic Ocean.

They're about one-third the size of the wandering albatross but are more dexterous in the air and are very aggressive when stealing baits from longlines. Unlike the wanderer, which is too big to dive, black-brows can reach several metres deep. Thus, they not only snatch baits at the surface but can dive for them as well.

Black-brows are one of the main albatrosses killed in bottom longline fisheries, like that for Patagonian toothfish, and are also killed in longline fisheries for tuna.

Chatham & Shy Albatrosses

With its chrome-yellow bill, dark grey head and sharp eye the Chatham albatross is one the most beautiful of all the albatrosses.

Chatham albatrosses breed exclusively on a rock stack south of the Chatham Islands, 600 km east of New Zealand. Because of its single breeding site and small population (c. 5,000 pairs) the Chatham albatross is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as being critically endangered with extinction.

Chatham albatrosses are taken in longline fisheries around New Zealand and off the coasts of Chile and Peru, their preferred winter feeding grounds.

A close relative of the Chatham albatross, the shy albatross breeds only in Australian waters. Shy albatrosses get killed in longline fisheries in Australia, in the Indian Ocean and near South Africa, their migration destination when not breeding.

Grey-headed Albatross

Grey-headed albatrosses breed on sub-Antarctic islands along with black-browed albatrosses, but they are very different species. Grey-heads are much less numerous, breed only every second year, tend to feed a long way from breeding sites, have a different diet and, like wandering albatrosses, may circumnavigate the world in years off breeding. They're good divers and are aggressive at taking baits from longlines. Because of their relatively low numbers, low reproductive rate and proficiency at stealing baits, grey-headed albatrosses are particularly vulnerable to the effects of longline fishing.

Even during breeding seasons, when time away from colonies is limited by parental duties, albatrosses undertake marathon feeding trips. Satellite tracking studies of grey-headed albatrosses from Diego Ramirez island, near Cape Horn reveal that birds might fly up 13,000 km - and almost half-way to New Zealand - on a single feeding flight. They also fly deep into Antarctic waters, as far as 67 degrees South, searching for food.

In non-breeding years (every second year) grey-headed albatrosses circumnavigate the entire world, sometimes twice. This grey-headed albatrosses bred at South Georgia in the summer of 1998/1999, flew around the world in the winter of 1999, spent the summer of 1999/2000 in the South Atlantic then migrated around the world again in the winter of 2000. It returned to South Georgia for the 2000/2001 breeding season.

Wandering Albatross

The wandering albatross is named for its flying ability - in non-breeding years they sometimes fly around the entire world! The wanderer is the stellar flying bird of the Southern Ocean and much of the marine folklore and poetry about albatrosses that developed in the era of sailing ships can be attributed to the wandering albatross.

The life history of the wandering albatross is similar to our own: birds mature at about 12 years of age, spend many adolescent years socialising and courting, mate for life, breed infrequently and might live for more than 60 years. They lay a single egg. A life history like this is not compatible with unnaturally high mortality and even a small increase in mortality can send populations heading toward the abyss.

The main threat to wandering albatrosses is surface longlining for tuna. The long branch lines float, providing ample time for slow moving birds like wanderers to snatch baited hooks. Bottom longlining is less of a threat because lines sink faster, and wanderers are usually out-competed by smaller, more manoeuvrable species.

What can you do to help?

Donate to Save the Albatross Campaign