Diomedea dabbenena (Tristan
albatross)
Tristangrootalbatros [Afrikaans]; Tristangrootmalmok
[Afrikaans]; Albatros de Tristan [French]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Ciconiiformes
> Family: Diomedeidae
Distribution and habitat
Breeds on Gough and Inaccessible Island, after which it
disperses across the South Atlantic Ocean, especially in the west. It is the
third rarest albatross, with a few records in southern African waters off the
coast of Cape Town, Namibia and the Eastern Cape, with more records far out at
the western edge of southern African territories.
Movements and migrations
Ranges from 29-50° south and 50° West to 15°
East.
Food
At breeding colonies it mainly eats squid and fish,
supplemented with crustaceans and offal, doing most of its foraging by grabbing
prey from the water surface.
Threats
Endangered, as its population has been severely
affected by mortalities on longlines, since its distribution overlaps with pelagic
long-line fisheries in the South Atlantic. It also has a low breeding success
rate due to predation of chicks by House mice (Mus musculus), and has
abandoned Tristan da Cunha as a nesting site because humans exploited them for
food. It has a total population of approximately 10 000 individuals.
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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