Black-browed Albatross Identification
Its scientific name is 'Thalassarche melanophris', from the family Diomedeidae (order Procellariiformes)
What I look like
The Black-browed Albatross is an immense bird, larger than a Northern Gannet.
Its wingspan can reach up to two and a half meters (that of a Mute Swan).
The wings are immense and narrow with a short tail.
It has a white head with a short black brow, a yellow hooked bill with an orange tip.
The back is black, but the rest of the body is white.
Seen from above, the wings are dark with a dark tail tip.
Seen from below, they are white with a broad black border (wider on the leading edge).
The juveniles have a grayish bill with a black tip, the underside of their wings is dark, and sometimes they have a slight gray collar.
My songs, my calls
The Black-browed Albatross is silent in flight.
It can be heard during food disputes with guttural cries (emitted from the back of the throat) that resemble growls.
How I behave
The Black-browed Albatross floats high on the water.
Its short tail differentiates it from the long-tailed Northern Gannet.
Its dark tail helps differentiate it from the Great Black-backed Gull which has a white tail.
It is a great glider in all weather with smooth and strong wing movements.
It practices soaring flight using updrafts. It often flies close to the waves.
How I reproduce
The Black-browed Albatross breeds from September to November, outside of Europe, often on islands (Falkland Islands, Kerguelen Islands).
Its nest is a mound of earth topped with a cup that holds the single egg. This nest can reach one meter in height.
Colonies settle on the windiest parts of the islands to facilitate takeoff.
The chick, covered in grayish down, will not be able to fly until four to five months.
What I eat
The Black-browed Albatross feeds mainly on fish.
It surface fishes for fish or cephalopods at shallow depths.
It also follows trawlers to scavenge fish scraps.
It has a salt gland to desalinate seawater, expelling the salt through its nostrils. This allows it to drink seawater.
Where to find me
The Black-browed Albatross is a pelagic bird (it lives in the open sea).
It lives in the South Atlantic Ocean.
It is very rarely seen in Europe (in the open sea), in summer or autumn. Some individuals occasionally join Scottish colonies of Northern Gannets in summer.
It comes to land only to breed.
It does not breed in Europe, but in the southern hemisphere, particularly on the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean.
It can live for about sixty years.