Great albatross

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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 splitting of the great albatrosses into six or seven species has not been accepted by all authorities.

The Wandering Albatross and the Southern Royal Albatross are the largest of the albatrosses and are amongst the largest of flying birds. They have the largest wingspans of any bird; being up to 3.5 m from tip to tip, although the average is a little over 3m. Large adult males of these two species may exceed 11 kilogrammes in weight, as heavy as a large swan.

Facial features of various Diomedea species.

The great albatrosses are predominantly white in plumage as adults, with birds becoming whiter as they age. Royal albatrosses of all ages and the larger, older male Wandering Albatrosses are totally white-bodied, while adult females and younger animals of the other species have dark pencilling marks on the edges of their feathers. Generally the smaller species or subspecies and the juveniles have more dark brown colour. The recently discovered Amsterdam Albatross retains the dark brown plumage of juvenile birds into adulthood.

The Great albatrosses range 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 Cunha), 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
• *Gibson's Albatross D. gibsoni
• *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

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