Great albatross
From Freepedia
| Great albatross | ||||||||||||
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| Image:Diomedea epomorpha.png Southern Royal Albatross | ||||||||||||
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D. exulans (Linnaeus, 1758) |
The great albatrosses are seabirds in the genus Diomedea in the albatross family. The genus Diomedea formerly included all albatrosses except the sooty albatrosses, but in 1996 the genus was split with the mollymawks and the North Pacific albatrosses both being elevated to separate genera. the great albatrosses themselves form two species complexes, the wandering and Amsterdam albatrosses and the royal albatrosses. The spliting of the great albatrosses into six species has not been accepted by all authorities.
Great albatrosses are the largest of the albatrosses and are amongst the largest of flying birds. They have the largest wingspans of any birds; one recorded wingspan was 345 cm from tip to tip, although the avarage is around 3m. The great albatrosses are predominatly white in plumage as adults, with birds becoming whiter as they age. The exception is the recently discovered Amsterdam Albatross, which retains the dark brown plumage of juvenile birds into adulthood.
Like most albatrosses the great albatrosses raneg across the Southern Ocean, and nest (for the most part) on isolated oceanic islands. The wandering albatrosses nest on islands around the Southern Ocean, from the Atlantic Ocean (South Georgia and Tristan da Cuhna), to the Indian Ocean and New Zealand's sub-Antarctic islands. The royal albatrosses nest only on new Zealand's sub-Antarctic islands, with one unusual colony on New Zealand's Otago Peninsula
- Great albatrosses (Diomedea)
- Southern Royal Albatross D. epomophora
- Northern Royal Albatross D. sanfordi
- Wandering Albatross D. exulans
- Antipodean Albatross D. antipodensis
- Tristan Albatross D. dabbenena
- Amsterdam Albatross D. amsterdamensis
References
- Brooke, M. (2004). Albatrosses And Petrels Across The World: Procellariidae. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK ISBN 0-19-850125-0
- Tickell, W.L.N. (2000). Albatrosses Sussex:Pica press, ISBN 1-873403-94-1
