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Bird name:

Black-browed Albatross

Thalassarche melanophris

Order

PROCELLARIIFORMES

Family

Albatross (Diomedeidae)

Code 4

BBAL

Code 6

THAMEL

ITIS

554453

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

Unknown-

The Black-browed Albatross is a medium-sized seabird found mostly in the Northern Atlantic. Its lifespan can be as long as 70 years, and will sometimes migrate north in summer months. These birds breed in the areas of Cape Horn, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Indian Ocean Islands. The Black-browed Albatross is the most common and well-distributed albatross, and is distinguished by the dark upperwings and dark tail band. It is named due to the dark line above its eyes. This species is currently classified as Endangered. Populations are showing a decreasing trend due to climate and habitat changes, as well as fishing activities within their natural habitat.

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SUMMARY

Overview

Black-browed Albatross: White head, neck, underparts, and black back, tail. Yellow bill with red tip, pale pink-gray legs and feet. Easily identified by black tail, stiff wing beats and long narrow pointed wings. Soars effortlessly for long periods of time, may circle and glide for long distances.


Range and Habitat

Black-browed Albatross: Common on the open sea in the southern oceans, rarely crosses the equator. Prefers to nest on slopes or cliffs overlooking ocean.

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SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to Call

Black-browed Albatross

INTERESTING FACTS

  • When landing, the Black-browed Albatross lowers its webbed feet and uses them as brakes to slow its flight.
  • They are long-lived birds surviving 30 years or more and have a strong attachment to their colony of birth.
  • They will tolerate other bird species near their nests but other albatrosses are not allowed closer than about one and a half meters.
  • A group of albatrosses are known collectively as a "flight", "rookery", and "weight" of albatrosses.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

Range Map for Black-browed Albatross

TERMINOLOGY

CREDITS

Author

Jane Wright

Artist

David Wenzel

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX