Black-browed Albatross

Thalassarche melanophrisOrder: PROCELLARIIFORMES Family: Albatross (Diomedeidae)

Codes: Common Name: BBAL Scientific Name: THAMEL ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554453

Black-browed Albatross: The adult Black-browed Albatross has a white head, neck and underparts, black back and tail. The bill is yellow with a red tip on both upper and lower mandibles.

Black-browed Albatross Variations

Subadult
Black-browed Albatross

Juvenile
Black-browed Albatross

Adult
Black-browed Albatross

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

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.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

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.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Jane Wright Splitbar

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Black-browed Albatross

● Song:

● Foraging & Feeding: Black-browed Albatross: Eats squid, cuttlefish, small fish, crustaceans and garbage from ships that it often follows.

● Breeding & nesting: Black-browed Albatross: Single egg, white with red spots, laid in a nest of mud and grass on slopes and cliffs overlooking the ocean. Incubation ranges from 64 to 79 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Black-browed Albatross: Yellow-nosed Albatross has black bill with yellow ridge and light gray head.

Flight Pattern

Glides on stiff wings.

● Range & 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.

^BreedingColonial

^PopulationRare to casual

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight120 - 130 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

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.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Black-browed Albatross

Black-browed Albatross Variations

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Range and Habitat

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Interesting Facts

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Black-browed Albatross

Flight Pattern