Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross
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| Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross | ||||||||||||||
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| Thalassarche carteri (Rothschild, 1903) |
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Thalassarche chlororhynchos carteri |
The Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, (Thalassarche carteri), is a small mollymawk in the albatross family. The smallest of the mollymawks, it is difficult to distinguish from the closely related Grey-headed Albatross and Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, the latter with which it was long considered conspecific and is still considered by some a subspecies of. It can be distinguished from the Atlantic Yellow-nosed by its head, the grey plumage of which is lighter on the Indian Yellow-nosed.
Like all albatrosses the Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross is a colonial breeder. It breeds on Prince Edward Island, the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Island, Amsterdam Island and St Paul Islands in the Indian Ocean. Adults begin breeding at the age of eight years. A mud nest is built and a single egg is laid. the nesting season begins in August, with laying occurring around September/October. Incubation lasts around 70 days. After hatching the chick takes around 115 days to fledge.
At sea it ranges from South Africa to the Pacific Ocean just beyond New Zealand. Squid and fish for the major part of the diet. It is considered to be an endangered species due to dramatic declines in the last seventy years, caused by interactions with long-line fisheries and the outbreak of introduced diseases.
The binomial commemorates the English ornithologist Thomas Carter.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2005). Thalassarche carteri. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is endangered
- Brooke, M. (2004). Albatrosses And Petrels Across The World Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK ISBN 0-19-850125-0
