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Diomedea exulans

(Cape Wandering Albatross)

Overview

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Vulnerable

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Afrikaans:

Grootalbatros, Grootalbatros (-malmok), Grootmalmok

Common Names in Czech:

Albatros Stehovav

Common Names in Danish:

Vandrealbatros

Common Names in Dutch:

Grote Albatros

Common Names in English:

Cape sheep, Cape Wandering Albatross, gony, leopard gony, Snowy Albatross, wandering albatross

Common Names in French:

Albatros hurleur

Common Names in German:

Kapschaf, Wanderalbatros

Common Names in Icelandic:

Hr

Common Names in Italian:

Albatro urlatore

Common Names in Japanese:

Watariahoudori, ワタリアホウドリ

Common Names in Latin:

Diomedea exulans

Common Names in Lithuanian:

Albatrosas Klajoklis

Common Names in Maori:

Toroa

Common Names in Norwegian:

Vandrealbatross

Common Names in Polish:

Albatros Wedrowny

Common Names in Portuguese:

Albatroz, Albatroz-Gigante, Albatroz-Viageiro

Common Names in Portuguese (Brazil):

Albatroz, Albatroz-Gigante

Common Names in Slovak:

Albatros St'ahovav

Common Names in Slovenian:

Klate

Common Names in Spanish:

Albatros Errante, Albatros Viajero

Common Names in Spanish (Argentine):

Albatros Errante

Common Names in Spanish (Chile):

Albatros Errante

Common Names in Spanish (Uruguay):

Albatros Viajero

Common Names in Swedish:

Vandringsalbatross

Common Names in Turkish:

Gezgin Albatros

Description

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Physical Description

Adult : Bill: pink Size: huge Legs : Leg Color: pink.Adult Female: Head : Crown: brown Bill: pink Size: huge Legs: Leg Color: pink Wings : Secondaries: black tips.Adult Male: Bill: pink Size: huge Legs: Leg Color: pink Wings: Secondaries: black tips.Immature: Face : white Bill: whitish Size: huge Body: brown Legs: Leg Color: pink Wings: Undersides: shiny white.

Habitat

Typically found in the intertidal zone at the water's edge at a mean distance from sea level of 29 meters (95 feet).[1]

Ecology: Behaviour Diomedea exulans is a biennial breeding species, although about 30% of successful and 35% of failed breeders (on average) defer breeding beyond the expected year. Adults return to colonies in November, and eggs are laid over a period of 5 weeks during December and January. Most eggs hatch in March, and chicks fledge in December. Birds usually return to colonies when 5-7 years old, though can return when as young as 3 years old. Birds can start breeding as young as 7 or 8 years old33. Wandering Albatross typically forages in oceanic waters, however considerable time is spent over shelf areas during certain stages of the breeding season16. Satellite tracking has revealed that juvenile birds tend to forage further north than adults17,25, bringing them into greater overlap with longline tuna fleets which may be driving falls in recruitment rates10. Females may also be at greater risk of being caught in tuna fisheries since they tend to forage further north than males18,23,24 and show lower survival21. It is mostly a diurnal breeder, taking most prey by surface-seizing33. Habitat Breeding Wandering Albatross nests in open or patchy vegetation near exposed ridges or hillocks2. Diet Adults feed at sea mainly on cephalopods and fish, often following ships and feeding on offal and galley refuse2,3. Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides is the primary fish species in the diet , potentially obtained as discarded offal33. Foraging range This wide ranging species has a circumpolar distribution, and both breeding and non-breeding birds have very large foraging ranges. Satellite tracking data indicate that breeding birds forage at very long distances from colonies (up to 4,000 km ) and that foraging strategies change throughout the breeding season33.

[2].

List of Habitats:

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 13-Jun-2007

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Diomedea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 24 species and subspecies in this genus:

D. albatrus (Short-Tailed Albatross) · D. amsterdamensis (Amsterdam Island Albatross) · D. antipodensis (Antipodean Albatross) · D. bulleri (Buller's Albatross) · D. bulleri bulleri (Buller's Albatross) · D. cauta (White-Capped Albatross) · D. cauta cauta (Shy Albatross) · D. cauta salvini (Shy Albatross) · D. chlororhynchos (Yellow-Nosed Albatross) · D. chrysostoma (Flat-Billed Albatross) · D. dabbenena (Tristan Albatross) · D. epomophora (Northern Royal Albatross) · D. epomophora epomophora (Southern Royal Albatross) · D. exulans (Cape Wandering Albatross) · D. exulans exulans (Wandering Albatross) · D. gibsoni (Gibson's Albatross) · D. immutabilis (White Gooney Bird) · D. irrorata (Galapagos Albatross) · D. melanophris (Black-Browed Albatross) · D. melanophris impavida (Black-Browed Albatross) · D. melanophris melanophris (Black-Browed Albatross) · D. nigripes (Hawaiian Black-Footed Albatross) · D. palpebrata (Light-Mantled Albatross) · D. sanfordi (Northern Royal Albatross)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 09, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Standard Deviation = 45.980 based on 124,088 observations. Terrestrial altitude and ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
  2. BirdLife International 2010. Diomedea exulans. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 31 January 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/14/2012