Buller Albatross
| Buller Albatross | ||||||||||
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Buller's Albatross ( Thalassarche bulleri ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Thalassarche bulleri | ||||||||||
| ( Rothschild , 1893) |
The Buller Albatross ( Thalassarche bulleri , Syn .: Diomedea bulleri ) is a species of bird from the family of the albatrosses (Diomedeidae). Buller albatrosses are small, lightly built, and predominantly black and white albatrosses. The species is named after the New Zealand ornithologist Walter Lawry Buller (1838-1906).
The IUCN classifies the Buller Albatross with regard to the endangerment of the species on the warning list ( near threatened ).
Appearance
The Buller Albatross reaches a body length of 76 to 81 centimeters, the wingspan is 200 to 213 centimeters and the weight is 2.05 to 3.35 kilograms. There is no noticeable sexual dimorphism , but females are slightly smaller than males.
The Buller Albatross has white plumage, the sides of the head and neck are light gray, the back between the wings, the tops of the wings, and the edges of the undersides are dark. The top of the tail is also dark, the underside is white. The bill is brown with yellow vertical stripes on the upper and lower bill. The feet are bluish-white.
Young birds are often gray-headed; some individuals have completely gray heads and necks, but the skull is usually whitish. The beak is gray-blue in not yet sexually mature birds. Only in three-year-old birds does the beak change color and take on the beak color of the adult birds.
The Buller Albatross can easily be confused with the Gray-headed Albatross .
Distribution and existence
The range includes the seas around New Zealand ; individual specimens have also been spotted in the eastern Pacific near the coast of Chile . The Buller Albatross breeds on the Chatham and Snares Islands as well as on Solander Island . The worldwide population is estimated at around 64,000 sexually mature individuals. Data from the Snare Islands have a significant increase of the stock out: There, the number of breeding pairs of 4,664 in 1969 to 8,877 in 1997. Inventory Threatening affects especially the longline fishery off. On the Solander Islands , the Wekaralle occasionally eats eggs from the Buller Albatross.
food
The Buller Albatross mainly eats cephalopods as well as fish and krill. The food is mostly taken from the surface of the water. Occasionally buller albatrosses dive shallow. Very often they follow ships to eat the rubbish.
Reproduction
Buller albatrosses breed annually, the breeding season begins in late December to mid-January. They build their nests between dense vegetation on hills and cliffs facing the sea. Occasionally there are nests in the open landscape between rocks. The nest is built from earth and grass. Basically, Buller Albatrosses show a high level of loyalty to their breeding site.
The clutch consists of an egg. This is white-skinned with fine brown-red spots. The breeding season lasts an average of 60 days. The young bird fledged after an average of 167 days. Both parent birds take part in the breeding and care of the young bird.
supporting documents
literature
- G. Tuck, H. Heinzel: The sea birds of the world , Paul Parey publishing house, 1980, ISBN 3-490-07818-7
- Hadoram Shirihai: A Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife - The Birds and Marine Mammals of the Antarctic Continent and Southern Ocean , Alula Press, Degerby 2002, ISBN 951-98947-0-5
- J. McQuilken, R.Stange: The Fog of Time, Spitzbergen.de-Verlag, 2012.
Web links
- Avibase
- Thalassarche bulleri in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2010. Accessed March 12, 2012th
Single receipts
- ↑ BirdLife Factsheet on the Buller Albatross , accessed November 27, 2010
- ^ Shirihai, p. 123
- ↑ BirdLife Factsheet on the Buller Albatross , accessed November 27, 2010
- ^ Shirihai, p. 124
- ^ Shirihai, p. 124