Indian yellow-nosed albatross (Thalassarche carteri)

Indian yellow-nosed albatross in flight, view of top of wings
Indian yellow-nosed albatross in flight, view of top of wings

Indian yellow-nosed albatross fact file

Indian yellow-nosed albatross description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderProcellariiformes
FamilyDiomedeidae
GenusThalassarche (1)

Part of the mollymawk family, the Indian yellow-nosed albatross is one of the smallest albatross species, compensating for its relatively diminutive proportions with excellent in-flight agility. A black and white bird, it has just one blaze of colour - a yellow stripe running down the top of the bill, blending into red at the tip – to which it owes its name. The back, upperwings and tail are dark grey, fading to very pale grey across the head and neck, and white on the underwings and rump. The underwings are tipped with black and have a narrow margin of black at the leading edge (2). The legs are pale bluish pink (3). The sexes are alike, but juveniles have a white head and black bill (2).

Size
Length: 76 cm (2)
Wingspan: 2 m (3)
Weight
2.55 kg (3)
Top

Indian yellow-nosed albatross biology

Adult Indian yellow-nosed albatrosses return to the breeding colonies in late August, where they meet their partner from at least two previous breeding seasons. Forming loose groups on slopes and cliffs, the each pair lays just one large, white egg which is incubated by both the male and the female. The chick is fed and cared for until late March to mid April, when it fledges and begins to feed itself. It will not breed until it is eight or nine years old (3).

Often following fishing vessels, the Indian yellow-nosed albatross feeds on fish, crustaceans and cephalopods. It feeds by snatching prey from the surface and by diving into the water. Although faring poorly when in competition for fish with larger sea birds, the Indian yellow-nosed albatross makes up for this with its agile flying technique, which enables it to catch scraps thrown from trawlers before they hit the water (2). Whilst usually silent at sea, this bird will give occasional croaks when competing for food (3).

Top

Indian yellow-nosed albatross range

The Indian yellow-nosed albatross breeds on Prince Edward Island, the Crozet Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, Amsterdam Island and the St Paul Islands in the Southern Indian Ocean. Outside the breeding season, the Indian yellow-nosed albatross disperses throughout the Indian Ocean and can be found off the south-western coast of Australia, east to the Tasman Sea and off northeastern New Zealand (2).

See this species on Google Earth.

Top

Indian yellow-nosed albatross habitat

Spending the non-breeding season out at sea, the Indian yellow-nosed albatross comes to land only during the breeding season, preferring slopes and cliffs in bare, rocky regions, with little vegetation (2).

Top

Indian yellow-nosed albatross status

The Indian yellow-nosed albatross is classified as Endangered (EN A4bde) on the IUCN Red List 2004 (1) and as ‘rare or likely to become extinct’ on the Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (4).

IUCN Red List species status – Endangered

Top

Indian yellow-nosed albatross threats

As with many seabird species, longline fishing activities pose the major threat to the Indian yellow-nosed albatross. Longlining is mainly used to catch tuna and swordfish by releasing a line of baited hooks that sink to the appropriate depth for these fish. Many seabirds dive for the bait before it has sunk, becoming caught on the hooks and drowning as the line reaches its final depth (2).

The largest population, of Indian yellow-nosed albatrosses, found on Amsterdam Island, has suffered massive losses in the last 25 years as a result of two bacterial diseases (Avian cholera and Erysipelothrix rhusiopathidae).

Top

Indian yellow-nosed albatross conservation

Prince Edward Island is a Special Nature Reserve, where all fauna is protected. Population monitoring and foraging studies have been carried out on Amsterdam Island, and vaccines against the bacterial diseases have been tested, but these cannot be carried out on a large scale (2). A Threat Abatement Plan has been prepared which proposes to reduce by-catch in all fisheries within the species’ range (5).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

For further information on the Indian yellow-nosed albatross, see:

Top

Authentication

This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk

Top

Glossary

By-catch
In the fishing industry, the part of the catch made up of non-target species.
Cephalopoda
From the Greek for ‘head-foot’, a class of molluscs that occur only in marine habitats. All species have grasping tentacles, and either an internal or external shell. Includes nautiloids, cuttlefish, squids, octopuses, and extinct ammonites and belemnites.
Crustacea
Diverse group of arthropods (a phylum of animals with jointed limbs and a hard chitinous exoskeleton) characterised by the possession of two pairs of antennae, one pair of mandibles (parts of the mouthparts used for handling and processing food) and two pairs of maxillae (appendages used in eating, which are located behind the mandibles). Includes crabs, lobsters, shrimps, slaters, woodlice and barnacles.
Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (January, 2005)
    http://www.redlist.org
  2. BirdLife International (January, 2005)
    http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/search/species_search.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=30015&m=0
  3. Institute of African Ornithology (January, 2005)
    http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/fitzpatrick/docs/r014a.html
  4. Wildlife Conservation Notice of Western Australia (January, 2005)
    http://www.calm.wa.gov.au/plants_animals/watscu/pdf/wildlife_cons_notice_fauna2003.pdf
  5. Australian Department of Environment and Heritage – Recovery Plan (January, 2005)
    http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/action/birds2000/pubs/indian-albatross.pdf

More »Related species

White-capped albatross (Thalassarche steadi)Grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma)Salvin’s albatross (Thalassarche salvini)Shy albatross (Thalassarche cauta)Black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys)Campbell albatross (Thalassarche impavida)Chatham albatross (Thalassarche eremita)Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross (Thalassarche chlororhynchos)

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Indian yellow-nosed albatross in flight, view of top of wings  
Indian yellow-nosed albatross in flight, view of top of wings

© Tony Palliser

Tony Palliser
tonyp@bigpond.net.au

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Indian yellow-nosed albatross (Thalassarche carteri) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.