Short-tailed albatross

Last updated

Short-tailed albatross
Short tailed Albatross1.jpg
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Diomedeidae
Genus: Phoebastria
Species:
P. albatrus
Binomial name
Phoebastria albatrus
(Pallas, 1769) [3]
Phoebastria albatrus map.svg
Synonyms

Diomedea albatrus [4]

The short-tailed albatross or Steller's albatross (Phoebastria 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 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 efforts underway since the 1950s, the species is in the process of recovering with an increasing population trend. [5] It is divided into two distinct subpopulations, one of which breeds on Tori-shima in the Izu islands south of Japan, and the other primarily on the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Contents

Description

The short-tailed albatross is a medium-sized albatross, with a wingspan of 215 to 230 cm (85–91 in), [6] a length of 84 to 94 cm (33–37 in) [7] [8] and a body weight that can be 4.3 to 8.5 kg (9.5–18.7 lb). Among standard measurements, the bill is 12.7–15.2 cm (5.0–6.0 in) long, the tail is 14–15.2 cm (5.5–6.0 in) long, the tarsus around 10 cm (3.9 in) and the wing chord 51 cm (20 in). [9] Its plumage as an adult is overall white with black flight feathers, some coverts, as well as a black terminal bar on its tail. It has a yellow-stained nape and crown. Its bill is large and pink; however, older birds will gain a blue tip. The juveniles are an all-over brown colour, and they will whiten as they mature, [10] in about 10 to 20 years. [11] [12] 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.

Range and habitat

A chick just before it left the Hawaiian archipelago Phoebastria albatrus -Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Hawaiian archipelago, USA -juvenile-8.jpg
A chick just before it left the Hawaiian archipelago

Short-tailed albatrosses now nest on four islands, with the majority of birds nesting on Tori-shima, and almost all of the rest on Minami-kojima in the Senkaku Islands. A female-female pair began nesting on Kure in the late 2000s. A chick hatched on 14 January 2011 on Midway. Both Midway and Kure are in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. [13] In 2012 a pair began incubating an egg on Muko-jima, in the Bonin Islands, Japan. [14] During non-breeding season they range across the North Pacific, with the males and juveniles gathering in the Bering Sea, and the females feeding off the coast of Japan and eastern Russia. [10] They can also be found as far east as California. In fact, the short-tailed albatross is seen on a number of the United States' state endangered species lists including Washington. [15]

The species has been extirpated as a breeder from Kita-no-shima, Enewetak Atoll, Kobishi, and the Bonin Islands (Nishino Shima, Yomejima, and (until recently) Mukojima). [4] It also formerly bred on Bermuda during the Pleistocene. [16]

Taxonomy

Short-tailed albatrosses are a type of albatross that belong to the family Diomedeidae, 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 against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights. [17] They also have a salt gland which is situated above the nasal passage helping desalinate their bodies, as an adaptation to the high amount of ocean water they imbibe. It excretes a high saline solution from their nose. [18]

The species is divided into two major clades/populations, one of which exclusively breeds on Tori-shima, and the other breeds primarily on the Senkaku Islands with a small number on Tori-shima. These two populations are genetically, morphologically, and behaviourally distinct, preferring to mate with their own kind, and as such it has been argued by some authors that they should be classified as two separate cryptic species. [19] [20] [21]

Behaviour

Feeding

The short-tailed albatross feeds mainly on squid, but will follow ships for their discarded offal. [10]

Reproduction

This albatross historically preferred to nest on large open areas near stands of the grass, Miscanthus sinensis . [10]

The short-tailed albatross usually first breeds at 10 years of age. [22]

The short-tailed albatross lays a clutch of one egg that is dirty white, with red spots, mainly at the blunt end of the egg. It usually measures 116 by 74 millimetres (4.6 in × 2.9 in). The egg is incubated for around 65 days. Both sexes incubate the eggs. [22]

Conservation

Breeding population and trends [23]
Breeding locationPopulationTrend
Tori-shima (Izu Islands)3540up from 25 since 1954
Minami-kojima and Kita-kojima 650Unknown
Ogasawara Islands 10Unknown
Total4200
One of several chicks translocated to Muko-jima Island, Japan Phoebastria albatrus -Mukojima Island, Japan -juvenile-8.jpg
One of several chicks translocated to Muko-jima Island, Japan

The IUCN classifies this species as vulnerable, [1] with an occurrence range of 34,800,000 km2 (13,400,000 sq mi) and a breeding range of 9 km2 (3.5 sq mi).

The short-tailed albatross came perilously close to extinction. They were hunted on an industrial scale for their feathers in the later half of the 19th century, with some estimates claiming upward of 10 million birds destroyed. By the 1930s, the only population left was on Torishima. Between 1927 and until 1933, hunting continued, when the Japanese government declared a ban to save the species, although by this time it was too late, the last albatrosses on the island has been killed. The species was assumed to be extinct and research became impossible with the outbreak of World War II. In 1949, an American researcher arriving on this island declared the species to be extinct, but an estimated 50 individuals, most likely juveniles, had 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. [24]

Between 2008 and 2012, the Ministry of the Environment relocated 70 albatross chicks from Tori-shima to Mukojima to breed them artificially. [25]

Today, longline fisheries and volcanic eruptions on Tori-shima are the largest threats; however, introduced predators, environmental contaminants, soil instability, and extreme weather are also threats.

There are many measures underway to protect this species. Japan, Canada, and the United States list this bird as a protected species. Tori-shima is a National Wildlife Protection Area, and native plant species are being transplanted to assist in nesting. Also, most commercial longline fisheries use bycatch mitigation devices. [10]

In 2017, a wild short-tailed albatross that had been born to an artificially-raised mother was confirmed to have returned to the Bonin Islands. This marks the first time a wild bird had returned to the islands in roughly 80 years. The bird was believed to have left its nest on Nakōdo-jima and flown north to Mukojima. [25]

Culture

In Japanese tradition the short-tailed albatross is known as ahodori (阿呆鳥, idiot bird), due to its insular breeding habits making it trusting towards terrestrial predators, such as humans. [26] [27]

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2018). "Phoebastria albatrus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22698335A132642113. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22698335A132642113.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ↑ Brands, S. (2008)
  4. 1 2 American Ornithologists' Union
  5. ↑ "Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) - BirdLife species factsheet". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  6. ↑ Dunn, J. L. & Alderfer, J. (2006)
  7. ↑ "Short-tailed albatross videos, photos and facts - Phoebastria albatrus - ARKive". arkive.org. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Information archivée dans le Web" (PDF).
  9. ↑ Elliott Coues (1903). Key to North American Birds Volume II. Boston: The Page Company. pp.  1024–.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 BirdLife International (2008)
  11. ↑ Sibley, D. A. (2000)
  12. ↑ Floyd, T. (2008)
  13. ↑ "Nest of endangered albatross found in Hawaii". Associated Press. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  14. ↑ Yamashina Institute for Ornithology. "Prospect for revival of albatross" (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  15. ↑ "Westport Seabirds Pelagic Trips - 2001 Trip Results". Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  16. ↑ Storrs L. Olson (28 October 2003). "Probable extirpation of a breeding colony of Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) on Bermuda by Pleistocene sea-level rise". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 100 (22): 12825–12829. Bibcode:2003PNAS..10012825O. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1934576100 . PMC   240703 . PMID   14566060.
  17. ↑ Double, M. C. (2003)
  18. ↑ Ehrlich, Paul R. (1988)
  19. ↑ Eda, M; Yamasaki, T; Izumi, H; Tomita, N; Konno, S; Konno, M; Murakami, H; Sato, F (2020-11-19). "Cryptic species in a Vulnerable seabird: shorttailed albatross consists of two species". Endangered Species Research. 43: 375–386. doi: 10.3354/esr01078 . ISSN   1863-5407. S2CID   226569961.
  20. ↑ Yamasaki, Takeshi; Eda, Masaki; Schodde, Richard; Loskot, Vladimir (2022-03-31). "Neotype designation of the Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus (Pallas, 1769) (Aves: Procellariiformes: Diomedeidae)". Zootaxa. 5124 (1): 81–87. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5124.1.6 . ISSN   1175-5334. PMID   35391135. S2CID   247876870.
  21. ↑ Royle, Thomas C. A.; Guiry, Eric. J.; Zhang, Hua; Clark, Lauren T.; Missal, Shalegh M.; Rabinow, Sophie A.; James, Margaretta; Yang, Dongya Y. (August 2022). "Documenting the short-tailed albatross ( Phoebastria albatrus ) clades historically present in British Columbia, Canada, through ancient DNA analysis of archaeological specimens". Ecology and Evolution. 12 (8): e9116. doi:10.1002/ece3.9116. ISSN   2045-7758. PMC   9339763 . PMID   35923939.
  22. 1 2 Hauber, Mark E. (1 August 2014). The Book of Eggs: A Life-Size Guide to the Eggs of Six Hundred of the World's Bird Species. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 38. ISBN   978-0-226-05781-1.
  23. ↑ "BirdLife International data zone" . Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  24. ↑ Safina, Carl (2002). Eye of the Albatross: Visions of Hope and Survival. Henry Holt. pp. 182–187.
  25. 1 2 "Japan sees major step in comeback of albatross | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  26. ↑ "Short-tailed albatross videos, photos and facts - Phoebastria albatrus | Arkive". Archived from the original on 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
  27. ↑ Ackerman, Diane (2011-07-13). The Rarest of the Rare: Vanishing Animals, Timeless Worlds. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. ISBN   9780307763358.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procellariiformes</span> Order of birds

Procellariiformes is an order of seabirds that comprises four families: the albatrosses, the petrels and shearwaters, and two families of storm petrels. Formerly called Tubinares and still called tubenoses in English, procellariiforms are often referred to collectively as the petrels, a term that has been applied to all members of the order, or more commonly all the families except the albatrosses. They are almost exclusively pelagic, and have a cosmopolitan distribution across the world's oceans, with the highest diversity being around New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seabird</span> Birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment

Seabirds are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Procellariidae</span> Family of seabirds which includes petrels, shearweters and prions

The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order Procellariiformes, which also includes the albatrosses and the storm petrels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waved albatross</span> Species of bird

The waved albatross, also known as Galapagos albatross, is one of three species of the family Diomedeidae that occur in the tropics. When they forage, they follow a straight path to a single site off the coast of Peru, about 1,000 km (620 mi) to the east. During the non-breeding season, these birds reside primarily on the Ecuadorian and Peruvian coasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatham albatross</span> Species of bird

The Chatham albatross, also known as the Chatham mollymawk or Chatham Island mollymawk, is a medium-sized black-and-white albatross which breeds only on The Pyramid, a large rock stack in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand (Aotearoa). It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the shy albatross Thalassarche cauta. It is the smallest of the shy albatross group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-footed albatross</span> Species of bird

The black-footed albatross 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laysan albatross</span> Species of bird

The Laysan albatross is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to 99.7% of the population. This small gull-like albatross is the second-most common seabird in the Hawaiian Islands, with an estimated population of 1.18 million birds, and is currently expanding its range to new islands. The Laysan albatross was first described as Diomedea immutabilis by Lionel Walter Rothschild, in 1893, on the basis of a specimen from Laysan Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sooty albatross</span> Seabird in the family Diomedeidae

The sooty albatross, also known to sailors as the Quaker, is a species of marine bird belonging to the albatross family Diomedeidae. It is a medium-sized albatross that sports a sooty-brown or sooty-black color. It can be found in the southern Atlantic Ocean, the southern Indian Ocean, and the Southern Ocean. This bird scavenges for squid, fish, and carrion. Like other albatrosses, these birds mate for life and return to the same breeding spots every season. A single pair will mate every other year on a variety of islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean and the southern Indian Ocean islands. This bird is an endangered species and conservation efforts are taking place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amsterdam albatross</span> Large bird which breeds only on Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean

The Amsterdam albatross or Amsterdam Island albatross,, is a large albatross which breeds only on Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean. It was only described in 1983, and was thought by some researchers to be a subspecies of the wandering albatross, D. exulans. BirdLife International and the IOC recognize it as a species, James Clements does not, and the SACC has a proposal on the table to split the species. More recently, mitochondrial DNA comparisons between the Amsterdam albatross, the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans, the Antipodean albatross D. antipodensis and the Tristan albatross D. dabbenena, provide clear genetic evidence that the Amsterdam albatross is a separate species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Pacific albatross</span> Genus of birds

The North Pacific albatrosses are large seabirds from the genus Phoebastria in the albatross family. They are the most tropical of the albatrosses, with two species nesting in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, one on sub-tropical islands south of Japan, and one nesting on the equator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian yellow-nosed albatross</span> Member of the albatross family, Diomedeidae

The Indian yellow-nosed albatross is a member of the albatross family, and is the smallest of the mollymawks. In 2004, BirdLife International split this species from the Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross; however Clements has not split it yet, and the SACC has not either, but recognises the need for a proposal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern royal albatross</span> Species of bird

The northern royal albatross or toroa, is a large seabird in the albatross family. It was split from the closely related southern royal albatross as recently as 1998, though not all scientists support that conclusion and some consider both of them to be subspecies of the royal albatross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tristan albatross</span> Large seabird from the family Diomedeidae

The Tristan albatross is a large seabird from the albatross family. One of the great albatrosses of the genus Diomedea, it was only widely recognised as a full species in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albatross</span> Family of large seabirds

Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes. They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic, although fossil remains of short-tailed albatross show they once lived there up to the Pleistocene, and occasional vagrants are found. Great albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, with wingspans reaching up to 2.5–3.5 metres (8.2–11.5 ft) and bodies over 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length. The albatrosses are usually regarded as falling into four genera, but disagreement exists over the number of species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonin petrel</span> Species of bird

The Bonin petrel or nunulu is a seabird in the family Procellariidae. It is a small gadfly petrel that is found in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Its secretive habits, remote breeding colonies and limited range have resulted in few studies and many aspects of the species' biology are poorly known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tori-shima (Izu Islands)</span> Uninhabited volcanic island in the Izu Islands, Japan

Tori-shima 'Bird Island', or Izu-Torishima 'Bird Island of Izu Province') is an uninhabited Japanese island in the Pacific Ocean. The volcanic island is part of the Izu Islands.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.