Phoebastria immutabilisLaysan albatross

Ge­o­graphic Range

Laysan al­ba­trosses breed on the Hawai­ian is­lands, some of Japan’s Bonin Is­lands, Guadalupe Is­land, and other is­lands off the coast of west­ern Mex­ico. These al­ba­trosses mainly breed in the Hawai­ian arch­i­pel­ago; more than half of the pop­u­la­tion breeds on Mid­way Is­land. Their name comes from the breed­ing colony on Laysan, in the north­west­ern Hawai­ian Is­lands. When Laysan al­ba­trosses are not breed­ing, they occur through­out the Pa­cific Ocean. Birds spend nearly half the year (July through No­vem­ber) at sea and don’t land until breed­ing sea­son. Non-breed­ing al­ba­trosses are found mostly near the Aleu­tians and the Bering Sea. Laysan al­ba­trosses take off from breed­ing grounds in July and head north­west to­wards Japan, north­east in Au­gust, and then south again to breed­ing is­lands in No­vem­ber. Their range is lim­ited by cen­tral Pa­cific winds be­cause al­ba­trosses de­pend on wind cur­rents for sus­tained flight. ("Laysan Al­ba­tross (Phoe­bas­tria im­mutabilis)", 2005; Whit­tow, 1993)

Habi­tat

When they land in the breed­ing sea­son, Laysan al­ba­trosses pre­fer to be in sandy, grassy areas on low atolls. They pre­fer to be next to sand dunes and shrubs such as Scaevola. The rest of the time, Laysan al­ba­trosses are found at soar­ing above the sea and only land on the water to feed or sleep. Their dis­tri­b­u­tion may be re­lated to food abun­dance, such as squid. On land, they are not fre­quently found above 500 m, usu­ally at sea level. ("Laysan Al­ba­tross (Phoe­bas­tria im­mutabilis)", 2005; Whit­tow, 1993)

  • Range elevation
    0 to 500 m
    0.00 to 1640.42 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Laysan al­ba­trosses have black­ish-brown backs and upper wings. The pri­mary feath­ers have a flash of white. The under wing is also white, with black mar­gins. There is a dark tail band that is vis­i­ble dur­ing flight. Sim­i­lar species are black-footed al­ba­trosses (Phoe­bas­tria ni­gripes). They are dis­tin­guished be­cause black-footed al­ba­trosses are dark all over, in­clud­ing the under wings. The other sim­i­lar North Amer­i­can al­ba­tross species, short-tailed al­ba­trosses (Phoe­bas­tria al­ba­trus), have a yel­low wash on the head and neck. (Na­tional Ge­o­graphic So­ci­ety, 2002; Whit­tow, 1993)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes alike
  • Range mass
    1.9 to 3.1 kg
    4.19 to 6.83 lb
  • Average mass
    2.4 kg
    5.29 lb
  • Range length
    79 to 81 cm
    31.10 to 31.89 in
  • Range wingspan
    195 to 203 cm
    76.77 to 79.92 in
  • Average basal metabolic rate
    0.53 cm3.O2/g/hr
  • Average basal metabolic rate
    7.462 W
    AnAge

Re­pro­duc­tion

Laysan al­ba­trosses are monog­a­mous and known for their elab­o­rate courtship dis­plays. This courtship dis­play is com­pli­cated and con­sists of 25 dif­fer­ent pos­tures, from click­ing beaks to­gether to tuck­ing them under wings, to point­ing them at the sky si­mul­ta­ne­ously. Only first time breed­ers and non-breed­ing birds per­form this dance. Laysan al­ba­trosses mate for life. Males and fe­males start breed­ing around 8 to 9 years of age. Pair bonds are formed over sev­eral years – al­ba­trosses may form the pair bond in their third year but not start breed­ing until they are 8 or 9. Laysan al­ba­trosses do not change mates un­less one dies, but chang­ing mates de­creases breed­ing fre­quency. ("Laysan Al­ba­tross - Diomedea im­mutabilis", 2007; Whit­tow, 1993)

Laysan al­ba­trosses breed once a year and lay one egg each time they breed. If the egg is lost, it is not re­placed. The in­cu­ba­tion pe­riod lasts for about 65 days, both par­ents take turns in­cu­bat­ing the egg. The nestling fledges around 165 days after hatch­ing and leaves the nest at about the same time be­cause the par­ents stop feed­ing it. The nestling prob­a­bly leaves out of hunger and must learn how to swim, fly, and feed out of ne­ces­sity. Males and fe­males cop­u­late about 24 hours after ar­riv­ing at the breed­ing colony. Within a cou­ple of hours after cop­u­la­tion, both birds de­part for sea and re­turn after about 8 days. Upon her re­turn, the fe­male builds the nest for a day or so and then lays her egg. Nest con­struc­tion con­tin­ues dur­ing in­cu­ba­tion, mostly by the fe­male but the male con­tributes as well. Laysan al­ba­trosses are colo­nial nesters. Nests are a de­pres­sion in the sand or soil with a rim made of twigs, leaves, or sand. (Whit­tow, 1993)

  • Breeding interval
    Laysan albatrosses breed once a year.
  • Breeding season
    Laysan albatrosses breed from November to July.
  • Average eggs per season
    1
  • Range time to hatching
    63.8 to 65.6 days
  • Average time to hatching
    64.4 days
  • Average fledging age
    165 days
  • Average time to independence
    165 days
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    8.9 years
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    8.4 years

Both sexes play an equal role in in­cu­bat­ing the egg, main­tain­ing the nest, and rais­ing the young. The fe­male on av­er­age in­cu­bates a few days less than the male does (29 vs. 36 days). Birds ex­change in­cu­ba­tion shifts, usu­ally about 5 times, dur­ing the total pe­riod of in­cu­ba­tion. Ex­change oc­curs dur­ing the day, pre­ceded by mu­tual preen­ing. The re­lieved bird usu­ally de­parts to find food within an hour. Both sexes de­velop an in­cu­ba­tion patch that re-feath­ers after the egg is hatched. If the egg is dis­placed from the nest, the par­ent will not re­trieve it. After the bird hatches, both par­ents play equal roles in feed­ing the chick re­gur­gi­tated food, which usu­ally con­sists of squid oil and fly­ing fish eggs. The par­ent will only feed the chick at the nest site to en­sure that it is feed­ing its own chick. The chick is brooded by the par­ent for the first few days and later guarded. Both par­ents take an equal role in guard­ing the chick. ("Laysan Al­ba­tross - Diomedea im­mutabilis", 2007; Whit­tow, 1993)

  • Parental Investment
  • precocial
  • pre-fertilization
    • provisioning
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • provisioning
      • male
      • female
    • protecting
      • male
      • female
  • pre-weaning/fledging
    • provisioning
      • male
      • female
    • protecting
      • male
      • female
  • pre-independence
    • provisioning
      • male
      • female
    • protecting
      • male
      • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Laysan al­ba­trosses have a lifes­pan of 12to 51 years. Birds that start breed­ing early in life tend to die younger. Mor­tal­ity rates are high­est dur­ing the 3rd to 6th breed­ing years. The major cause of mor­tal­ity in nestlings is de­hy­dra­tion. Many adult birds have been killed due to mil­i­tary and air­craft ac­tiv­i­ties. ("Laysan Al­ba­tross - Diomedea im­mutabilis", 2007; Rob­bins, 2002; Whit­tow, 1993)

  • Range lifespan
    Status: wild
    12 to 51 years
  • Typical lifespan
    Status: wild
    10 to 19 years

Be­hav­ior

Laysan al­ba­trosses are known for their dy­namic soar­ing. Be­cause of their long wingspan they have dif­fi­culty with take offs and land­ings. They need wind for flight. They take ad­van­tage of the dif­fer­ent gra­di­ents of wind ve­loc­ity over the water using “slope soar­ing”. They can ride one cur­rent of wind up to the next and dip down from a higher cur­rent to a lower one. In this way, they can con­trol their ve­loc­ity over the water and only flap their wings oc­ca­sion­ally. They spend all of their time ei­ther in the air, on the ground, or on the water. When they land, al­ba­trosses often “crash-land” by rolling head over heels. At night, al­ba­trosses set­tle in the water to feed. With their mated pair, al­ba­trosses en­gage in mu­tual preen­ing. Laysan al­ba­trosses are usu­ally not vi­o­lent to­wards their adult neigh­bors, only to­wards their nestlings. (Whit­tow, 1993)

  • Average territory size
    1.65 m^2

Home Range

When not breed­ing, Laysan al­ba­trosses do not have a set home range or ter­ri­tory. Males and fe­males re­turn to the same breed­ing area year after year. (Whit­tow, 1993)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Laysan al­ba­trosses have an elab­o­rate courtship dis­play that uses vi­sual, tac­tile, and audio stim­uli. Dur­ing the courtship dis­play, these al­ba­trosses re­spond in uni­son to their po­ten­tial mate, in­clud­ing a mu­tual bill-click­ing dis­play. When in­cu­bat­ing eggs they make soft “eh-eh” sounds to the egg and to their part­ner. When males re­turn to the breed­ing colony at the start of the sea­son they make sky calls, in which males rise on their toes, point their bills at the sky and emit a long, sin­gle note. (Whit­tow, 1993)

Food Habits

Laysan al­ba­trosses eat mainly squid but also eat fish, fish-eggs, and crus­taceans. They eat small sun­fish (Ran­za­nia lae­vis), fly­ing fish and their eggs (Ex­o­coeti­dae), wind-sail­ers (Velella velella), and crus­taceans such as Eu­ry­thenes gryl­lus. These seabirds feed mainly at night when squid are plen­ti­ful in sur­face wa­ters. They are sur­face feed­ers; they feed by sit­ting on the water and scoop­ing up prey from just under the sur­face. They can rip apart larger prey with their beaks. ("Laysan Al­ba­tross - Diomedea im­mutabilis", 2007; Whit­tow, 1993)

  • Animal Foods
  • fish
  • eggs
  • mollusks
  • aquatic crustaceans

Pre­da­tion

Tiger sharks (Ga­le­o­cerdo cu­vier) prey on fledg­lings as they swim near breed­ing is­lands, eat­ing about 1 in 10 fledg­lings. Tiger sharks can also at­tack adults. Poly­ne­sian rats (Rat­tus ex­u­lans) have also been re­ported to at­tack in­cu­bat­ing adults and nestlings. Adults will pro­tect their nests using their bills. In the main Hawai­ian is­lands, in­tro­duced preda­tors such as dogs (Canis lupus fa­mil­iaris) have killed Laysan al­ba­trosses and, on Oahu, mon­gooses (Her­pesti­dae) may be a threat. ("Laysan Al­ba­tross (Phoe­bas­tria im­mutabilis)", 2005; Whit­tow, 1993)

Ecosys­tem Roles

Laysan al­ba­trosses, aside from prey­ing on squid and fish and being preyed upon by tiger sharks and rats, are also hosts for oc­ca­sional par­a­sitic species. Ec­topar­a­sites can cause par­a­site der­mati­tis. A new species of chig­ger was found on a Laysan al­ba­tross nestling. (Whit­tow, 1993)

Com­men­sal/Par­a­sitic Species
  • chig­gers (Apoloni­inae)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Lit­tle is known about Laysan al­ba­trosses and their eco­nomic im­por­tance for hu­mans. Pre­vi­ously, Japan­ese feather hunters hunted al­ba­trosses for their feath­ers. Cur­rently, in the Hawai­ian Is­lands, Laysan al­ba­trosses are a tourist at­trac­tion and bird­ers visit their breed­ing colonies. (Whit­tow, 1993)

  • Positive Impacts
  • body parts are source of valuable material
  • ecotourism

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

In the past, Laysan al­ba­trosses have col­lided with air­crafts and oc­ca­sion­ally with an­ten­nae tow­ers. Be­cause of these col­li­sions, they may still face per­se­cu­tion on the main Hawai­ian Is­lands. ("Laysan Al­ba­tross (Phoe­bas­tria im­mutabilis)", 2005)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Laysan al­ba­trosses are listed as vul­ner­a­ble to ex­tinc­tion in the IUCN Red List and pro­tected under the U.S. Mi­gra­tory Bird Act. Laysan al­ba­trosses were hunted by the Japan­ese for their feath­ers. Laysan al­ba­trosses were also killed by col­li­sions with an­ten­nae tow­ers and air­craft strikes and many were in­ten­tion­ally killed as well to re­duce col­li­sions. On the Hawai­ian is­lands, eggs and birds are still re­moved from air­fields to dis­cour­age nest­ing. On land, in­tro­duced preda­tors and lead poi­son­ing kill al­ba­trosses as well. At sea, they are killed by oil pol­lu­tion, float­ing plas­tics, nets, and fish­hooks. Pre­ven­tive mea­sures adopted have been al­ter­na­tive long-line fish­ing tech­niques such as weigh­ing lines down to scare away birds. Top­soil and grass has been im­ported to is­lands to sta­bi­lize sand dunes and in­crease avail­able habi­tat. Pro­tec­tion in wildlife refuges on other Hawai­ian is­lands help es­tab­lish breed­ing colonies. (Mc­Der­mond and Mor­gan, 1993; "Laysan Al­ba­tross (Phoe­bas­tria im­mutabilis)", 2005)

Con­trib­u­tors

Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Tiffany Lin (au­thor), Stan­ford Uni­ver­sity, Terry Root (ed­i­tor, in­struc­tor), Stan­ford Uni­ver­sity.

Glossary

Pacific Ocean

body of water between the southern ocean (above 60 degrees south latitude), Australia, Asia, and the western hemisphere. This is the world's largest ocean, covering about 28% of the world's surface.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

colonial

used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.

desert or dunes

in deserts low (less than 30 cm per year) and unpredictable rainfall results in landscapes dominated by plants and animals adapted to aridity. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain. Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants. In dunes near seas and oceans this is compounded by the influence of salt in the air and soil. Salt limits the ability of plants to take up water through their roots.

diurnal
  1. active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
ecotourism

humans benefit economically by promoting tourism that focuses on the appreciation of natural areas or animals. Ecotourism implies that there are existing programs that profit from the appreciation of natural areas or animals.

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

molluscivore

eats mollusks, members of Phylum Mollusca

monogamous

Having one mate at a time.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

nomadic

generally wanders from place to place, usually within a well-defined range.

oceanic islands

islands that are not part of continental shelf areas, they are not, and have never been, connected to a continental land mass, most typically these are volcanic islands.

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

pelagic

An aquatic biome consisting of the open ocean, far from land, does not include sea bottom (benthic zone).

saltwater or marine

mainly lives in oceans, seas, or other bodies of salt water.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

tropical

the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.

visual

uses sight to communicate

young precocial

young are relatively well-developed when born

Ref­er­ences

Na­tional Audubon So­ci­ety, Inc. 2005. "Laysan Al­ba­tross (Phoe­bas­tria im­mutabilis)" (On-line). Na­tional Audubon So­ci­ety. Ac­cessed May 29, 2007 at http://​web1.​audubon.​org/​waterbirds/​species.​php?​speciesCode=layalb.

2007. "Laysan Al­ba­tross - Diomedea im­mutabilis" (On-line). Na­ture­Works. Ac­cessed May 29, 2007 at http://​www.​nhptv.​org/​natureworks/​laysan.​htm.

Mc­Der­mond, D., K. Mor­gan. 1993. Sta­tus and con­ser­va­tion of North Pa­cific Al­ba­tross. The sta­tus, ecol­ogy, and con­ser­va­tion of ma­rine birds of the N. Pa­cific, 1: 70-81.

Na­tional Ge­o­graphic So­ci­ety, 2002. Na­tional Ge­o­graphic Field Guide to Birds of North Amer­ica, 4th Edi­tion. Des Moines, IA: Na­tional Ge­o­graphic.

Rob­bins, C. 2002. "Patux­ent Sci­en­tist Chan Rob­bins Re­ports Age Record for Laysan Al­ba­tross" (On-line). USGS Patux­ent Wildlife Re­search Cen­ter HiLites. Ac­cessed May 29, 2007 at http://​www.​pwrc.​usgs.​gov/​new/​hilites/​hilites040802.​htm.

Whit­tow, G. 1993. "Laysan Al­ba­tross (Diomedea im­mutabilis)" (On-line). The Birds of North Amer­ica On­line. Ac­cessed May 29, 2007 at http://​bna.​birds.​cornell.​edu/​BNA/​account/​Laysan_​Albatross/​DISTRIBUTION.​html.