Phoebastria immutabilis

After reaching sexual maturity at eight to nine years, the Laysan albatross switches from permanently living at sea and returns to land for nearly 10 months of the year to raise a single chick. First-time breeders engage in an elaborate courtship display which establishes pair bonds lasting for the rest of their 40 year lives. The male and female build a shallow nest in a colony based on open ground surrounded by tall vegetation. The female lays a single egg which both sexes take turns incubating for nine weeks. The chick is fed by both parents, who alternately tend to the chick and embark on trips of several days to forage at sea. Upon their return, the stomach oil and partially digested stomach contents are regurgitated to feed the chick (4). At the end of the breeding season in July, most birds head northwest towards Japan, and then northeast towards the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska. They then migrate south to Hawaii for the next breeding season (4). Whilst normally quiet and solitary at sea, large flocks may gather to exploit fish discards from factory trawlers. The Laysan albatross seizes food at the surface and by shallow diving to catch squid, fish and crustaceans (2).

Named after one of the islands on which it breeds, the Laysan albatross is a large bird with extremely long wings. Males are slightly larger, but both sexes have a white head, body and undertail feathers, with dark upperwings and back, and black and white patterning on the underwings. The bill and feet are pinkish (3). A dark patch surrounds the eye (2).

Breeds w Hawaiian and Revillagigedo islands; ranges n Pacific.

New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone, North Pacific

Phoebastria immutabilis breeds at 16 sites (nine with populations of greater than 100 pairs), mostly in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (USA) and US Minor Outlying Islands, with additional small colonies in Japan and Mexico. The population is estimated to be c.590,926 breeding pairs, with the largest colony at Midway Atoll, followed by Laysan Island, both in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands¹⁸. Population sizes at monitored colonies increased between 1980 and 1995 but have never reached the densities observed prior to large-scale harvests for feathers in the early 1900s. Data indicated a 32% decline during 1992-2002 (3.2% per annum) of birds breeding on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where 99% of the global population is found^5,9, though data from 2004 and 2006 indicate that the breeding population then rebounded, and that the overall population trend for 1992-2005 is stable¹⁸. A population began nesting in Mexico in the 1980s and has been increasing since then. The current population is about 400 pairs at four sites, though this represents less than 0.1% of the global population¹⁸. Breeding populations were extirpated from Wake and Johnston atolls (USA) and Minami Torishima (Japan) in the central Pacific. Ship-based observations, satellite tracking and fisheries bycatch reveal the wide distribution of Laysan Albatross in the North Pacific, ranging from the Bering Sea to tropical waters in the South (15-20 degrees North) ^{19, 21, 23}.

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.

Biogeographic Regions: oceanic islands (Native ); pacific ocean (Native )

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Transient

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Breeding

Global Range: (20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)) Breeds on most of northwestern Hawaiian Islands, from Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to Kauai in the main islands (Whittow 1993); attempts have been made to nest on Oahu, Molokai, Niihau, and Moku Manu in the main islands, but with little success owing in part to active human discouragement because of danger to aircraft; also nests on Ogasawara Islands, and at least formerly on Seven Islands of Izu, and on Marcus, Johnston, and Wake islands; recently (late 1980s and early 1990s) found nesting on Isla Guadalupe and on islas San Benedicto and Clarion of the Islas Revillagigedo, and at Alijos Rock (Whittow 1993), off western Mexico (Howell and Webb 1992, Pitman and Ballance 2002). Ranges at sea in Bering Sea, North Pacific from Alaska to coasts of Baja California, and Japan; recorded at sea between latitudes 8 degrees north and 59 degrees north, and longitudes 170 degrees east and 105 degrees west (Whittow 1993).

Most Laysan albatrosses breed on the northwestern Hawaiian Archipelago and off Baja California, and spend the non-breeding season out at sea in the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea (2). Other populations are found in Canada, Japan, Mexico, and Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean (1).

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.

Range mass: 1.9 to 3.1 kg.

Average mass: 2.4 kg.

Range length: 79 to 81 cm.

Range wingspan: 195 to 203 cm.

Average basal metabolic rate: 0.53 cm^3 oxygen/hour.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike

Average basal metabolic rate: 7.462 W.

Length: 81 cm

Weight: 3230 grams

breeding on Hawaii

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Terrestrial
• Marine

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.

Range elevation: 0 to 500 m.

Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; saltwater or marine

Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune

Aquatic Biomes: pelagic

Depth range based on 6204 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 6066 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0 - 0
  Temperature range (°C): -0.445 - 26.778
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.004 - 21.548
  Salinity (PPS): 27.601 - 35.350
  Oxygen (ml/l): 4.668 - 8.737
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.061 - 1.906
  Silicate (umol/l): 1.058 - 40.317

Graphical representation

Temperature range (°C): -0.445 - 26.778

Nitrate (umol/L): 0.004 - 21.548

Salinity (PPS): 27.601 - 35.350

Oxygen (ml/l): 4.668 - 8.737

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.061 - 1.906

Silicate (umol/l): 1.058 - 40.317
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Comments: Nonbreeding: pelagic. Does not often follow ships. Nests on ground in sheltered areas and open grassy areas (e.g., lawns) on oceanic islands (especially Laysan and Midway). Usually returns to nest site used in previous year (Fisher 1975).

This is an open ocean species that comes to land exclusively to breed, at which time it inhabits open sandy or grassy areas (4).

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Arrives in nesting areas late October-early November, males preceding females. Immatures may not migrate back to their hatching area for several years (typically about 4 years on Midway) (Fisher 1975).

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.

Animal Foods: fish; eggs; mollusks; aquatic crustaceans

Primary Diet: carnivore (Molluscivore )

Comments: Eats squid mostly at night when squid are at ocean surface (Palmer 1962).

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.

Commensal/Parasitic Species:

• chiggers (Apoloniinae)

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.

Known Predators:

• tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier)
• Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans)
• domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)
• mongooses (Herpestidae)

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 6 - 80

>1,000,000 individuals

Comments: In 1996, 387,854 breeding pairs (71% of the world's population) nested on Midway Atoll (USFWS 2000).

Long-lived; low mortality arte (annual mortality rate of breeders on Midway 5-6%); breeding life expectancy 16-18 years. (Fisher 1975).

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.

Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic

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.

Range lifespan
Status: wild: 12 to 51 years.

Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 10 to 19 years.

Maximum longevity: 53 years (wild) Observations: One specimen banded in 1956 was recaptured on Midway Atoll in 2002. In 1956 the animal was incubating an egg making it at least 51 years old in 2002. It was brooding a healthy chick in 2002 (http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/).

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.

Mating System: monogamous

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.

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.

Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)

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.

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)

Egg are laid November-December. Clutch size is 1. Incubation lasts 62-68 days, by both sexes in turn (turn may last weeks). Nestling stage lasts about 165 days. Young are tended by both sexes, may be left alone for 1-4 days after 6 weeks. First breeds at 5-9 years.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There are 6 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.

Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 6
Specimens with Barcodes: 13
Species With Barcodes: 1

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Justification

History

• 2008
  Vulnerable
• 2005
  Vulnerable
• 2004
  Vulnerable
• 2003
  Vulnerable

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.

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: appendix i

State of Michigan List: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: near threatened

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N2B - Imperiled

Rounded Global Status Rank: G3 - Vulnerable

Reasons: Modest number of nesting colonies on Pacific Ocean islands; over 70 per cent of total population nests on Midway Island; threats include mortality in commercial fisheries, predation by exotic mammals, and, on Midway Island, lead poisoning.

Intrinsic Vulnerability: Moderately vulnerable

The Laysan albatross is classified as Vulnerable (VU A4bd) on the IUCN Red List 2004 (1).

Population

Population Trend

Global Short Term Trend: Relatively stable (=10% change)

Comments: Local increases have been noted, but overall the population in northwestern Hawaii apparently is stable (Harrison et al. 1984). Apparently expanding range, based on new breeding records for islands on Pacific coast of Mexico; populations there are still extremely small, however (Pitman and Ballance 2002).

Degree of Threat: Medium

Comments: Threatened by mortality from long-line fisheries. In each of the years 1996-1998 an estimated 2,000 were killed in the waters around Hawaii (Ornithological Council 1999). Loss of up to one percent of the population annually due to capture in driftnets has been reported (Whittow 1993).

"Unusually large numbers of adults died on Midway in 1995 from acute anemia of unknown origin. Lead poisoning from paint chips and necrotizing enteritis are major causes of mortality in chicks on Midway Atoll. In 1997, lead mitigation efforts on Midway were evaluated and management guidelines provided to the US Fish and Wildlife Service" (Work and Rameyer 1998).

Other threats include predation by polynesian rats, dogs, and mongoose on the main Hawaiian Islands, and collisions with objects (resulting from disorientation caused by artificial lighting). Avian pox is common.

Film trailer by artist Chris Jordan explores the plight of Laysan albatross plagued by the ingestion of our plastic trash.

Major Threats

Laysan albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis), which forage throughout the North Pacific, are well known for their tendency to ingest plastic. Their flexible foraging strategy has potentially led to a decrease in their foraging efficiency as they ingest large amounts of plastic, which is in turn fed to their chicks. It is unclear just how often Laysan albatrosses encounter or ingest plastic and whether plastic is mistaken for prey, has natural food attached to it, or is consumed to assist in digestion as is sometimes done with pumice. Unfortunately, plastic ingestion leads to mechanical blockage of the digestive tract, reduced food consumption, inappropriate satiation of hunger, and potential exposure to toxic compounds. While there have been documented detrimental effects on the growth rates and fledging masses of chicks, it is still unclear what levels of mortality are caused by plastic ingestion. What is clear, however, is the source of the plastic: there is now so much floating marine debris accumulated in the North Pacific gyre that is it known as the "great garbage patch". This patch consists of high densities of floating plastic debris, particularly between 20° and 40° N, within a few hundred kilometres of the coast and in the gyre centres, between the tropical and subarctic waters. This area of concentrated debris consists of two accumulations: the "Western Garbage Patch" that occurs off Japan and the"‘Eastern Garbage Patch" located between Hawaii and California. These accumulations correspond to the locations of two sub-gyres within the North Pacific Gyre connected by a narrower band of marine debris north of the Hawaiian Archipelago (where 99% of Laysan Albatrosses breed). (Young et al. 2009 and references therein)

Young et al. (2009) investigated the questions of whether Laysan albatrosses nesting on widely separated islands (Kure Atoll and Oahu Island, separated by 2,150 km) exploit resources closer to their breeding colonies during the breeding season, how their foraging locations change throughout the reproductive cycle, and whether this leads to differences in plastic ingestion as represented in their boluses (regurgitated undigestable material). Determining how and where marine organisms come into contact with marine debris could have implications for the design of management strategies that mitigate its environmental impact. To track foraging behavior and plastic ingestion, Young et al. combined the use of electronic data logging devices to determine the at-sea distributions of adults with the collection of chick boluses to evaluate differences in plastic ingestion. The authors found that chicks from Kure Atoll were fed almost ten times the amount of plastic relative to chicks from Oahu despite boluses from both colonies having similar amounts of natural food. Foraging adults from Kure had a greater overlap with the putative range of the Western Garbage Patch, possibly explaining the higher plastic loads at this colony. Furthermore, every bolus examined from Kure Atoll contained multiple pieces of fishing paraphernalia, while only two boluses on Oahu contained any evidence of fishing line or tools (despite recreational fishing adjacent to the breeding colony on Oahu), suggesting that the threat from fisheries not only comes from bycatch for this species, but also from the consumption of fishing gear. It is unclear whether the Western Garbage Patch contains more trash than the Eastern Garbage Patch or if the size and composition of the pieces are easier for the birds to ingest compared to those found in the Eastern Garbage Patch.

Massive exploitation of the Laysan albatross for its feathers in the first half of the 20th century had a devastating effect on population numbers, and whilst it is known that population numbers improved following a ban between 1980 and 1995, they have yet to resume their original numbers. Major threats persist, and until these have been reduced, the Laysan albatross cannot be considered to be out of danger. Longline fisheries and illegal driftnet operations were estimated to have killed 17,500 birds (or one percent of the population) in 1990 alone. Since then, estimates suggest that sea bird avoidance measures have reduced losses. Oil spills, plastic ingestion, lead poisoning from a disused military base, human disturbance and collisions with aircraft are also threats (5).

Conservation Actions

Management Requirements: See Podolsky (1990) for information on use of models and recordings of vocalizations to attract albatrosses to new potential nesting sites.

In 1991, a 50 nautical mile Protected Species Zone was set up around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands which banned longline fishing in order to protect monk seals. Half the breeding population of Laysan albatrosses breed within this region, and have consequently benefited from this protection, and have even been able to extend their breeding range. However, the implementation of proposed conversation measures is still crucial to the recovery of this species, including: assessing long term trends, satellite tracking to analyse temporal and spatial overlap with longline fisheries, as well as promoting awareness within longline fleets (5).

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.

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.

Positive Impacts: body parts are source of valuable material; ecotourism