Kerguelenalbatros

Bestimmung

The Indian yellow-nosed albatross weighs 2.55 kg (5.6 lb), is 76 cm (30 in) long and is 2 m (6.6 ft) across the wings. The adult has a pale grey or white head and nape, with a dark grey mantle, upperwing, and tail. Its rump and underparts are white, and its underwing is white with a black tip with a narrow black margin at the leading edge. Its bill is black with a yellow upper ridge and a red tip. The juvenile has a white head and all black bill. It is difficult to distinguish from the closely related grey-headed albatross and Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross, the latter with which it was long considered conspecific and is still considered by some a subspecies of. It can be distinguished from the Atlantic yellow-nosed by its head, the grey plumage of which is lighter on the Indian yellow-nosed.

Taxonomie

Mollymawks are a type of albatross that belong to the family Diomedeidae of the order Procellariiformes, along with shearwaters, fulmars, storm petrels, and diving petrels. They share certain identifying features. They have nasal passages called naricorns attached to the upper bill. The bills of Procellariiformes are unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates. They make a stomach oil made of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This is used against predators and as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights. They have a salt gland above the nasal passage. It helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of ocean water that they imbibe. The type-specimen is a black-beaked juvenile, which has caused confusion over its status until recently.

Wissenschaftlicher Name

Thalassarche carteri

Autorität

(Rothschild, 1903)

Ordnung

Procellariiformes

Familie

Diomedeidae

Gattung

Thalassarche

Verbreitung und Lebensraum

It breeds on Prince Edward Islands, the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Island, Amsterdam Island (on the Falaises d'Entrecasteaux) and St Paul Islands in the Indian Ocean. When feeding during incubation, birds will forage up to 1,500 km (930 mi) from the colony. At sea it ranges from South Africa to the Pacific Ocean just beyond New Zealand, ranging from 30° S to 50° S.

Brutgebiet

IO : Prince Edward Is. (s of South Africa), Crozet Is. (s of Madagascar), Amsterdam, St. Paul and Kerguelen is. (sw to se Indian Ocean)

Überwinterungsgebiet

mainly s Indian Ocean between Tropic of Capricorn and Subtropical Convergence

Zugverhalten

Vollzieher

Verhalten

Zugverhalten: Vollzieher.

Schutzstatus

Bestandstrend: rückläufig.

Bestandstrend

rückläufig