Phoebastria nigripes

Hawaiian: Kaupu

Family: Diomedeidae

State listed as Threatened

IUCN Ranking - Endangered

§         Description

§         Distribution

§         Breeding Ecology

§         Feeding Ecology

§         Threats and Status

§         References

  Adult feeding a chick, Kure Atoll  (Photo: H. Eijzenga)

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Black-footed Albatross have a uniform dark brown plumage except for a narrow white area at the base of the bill, and a white patch behind the eye. Some adults also have a white band at the base of the tail and white under the tail. As adults, both sexes have similar coloration, though males are heavier and have a deeper and longer bill. Birds become progressively whiter as they age, particularly in the belly (ventral side), rump (tail coverts), and around the base of the bill. Juveniles have less prominent white plumage around the bill, and therefore appear overall darker than adults. Black-footed Albatross are smaller than other albatross species, but their wingspan can still reach up to 2.13 m (~7 feet).

Black-footed Albatross may be confused with the rare immature Short-tailed Albatross (P. albatrus, which have a uniformly dark brown appearance. However, Short-tailed Albatross are larger in size and have pink feet and a large and pinkish bill.

Breeding (October-June)

Black-footed Albatross breed primarily on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (Laysan Island, Lisianski Island, Pearl & Hermes Reef, Midway Atoll, Kure Atoll) and some small colonies on isolated islands south of Japan. On the Main Hawaiian Islands they nest on Lehua and Kaula both offshore Niihau. This species may travel great distances to forage during the breeding season. Several birds, tracked by satellite, traveled over 15,000 km (9,300 miles) from their breeding grounds in Hawaii to the continental shelf off of Oregon and northern California during foraging trips to gather food for their young.

Marine

The species can be found reliably off of the Pacific coast of North America from June to August, although they may be present throughout the year. The species disperses widely over the north Pacific Ocean, with occasional records in the Southern Hemisphere. They are found throughout the North Pacific Ocean, from the West Coast of North America to Japan and from the tropics (southernmost range extent approximately 10 ^o N) to the Gulf of Alaska, and into the SE Bering Sea.

The Black-footed Albatross form long-term pair bonds and exhibit a high degree of nest site fidelity. They arrive at their nesting sites by the end of October, and then incubate and brood chicks from November until February. Adults continue to provision their chicks from March until June and fledging begins mid-June until the end of July. This species prefers to nest on beaches and slopes with little or no vegetation, where females lay only one egg, typically forgoing a nest. Both adults share in the responsibilities of caring for the egg and young. Most (63%) individuals nest in 2 consecutive years, but only 42% nest in 3 consecutive years. Young birds do not return to land until their third year after fledging. These birds do not breed, but dance, build nests, and prospect for mates. They become reproductively mature at 8 to 10 years old.

§         Feeding guild – ALBATROSS

§         Food capture – Black-foots have a well developed sense of smell and feed by seizing prey at the water’s surface or by shallow surface diving, though they typically do not fully submerge. They are known to follow and aggregate at ships where they consume fisheries discards. In particular, Black-footed Albatross scavenge at pelagic gillnets and steal bait from longlines.

§         Foraging Distribution –This species may travel great distances to forage during the breeding season. Several birds, tracked by satellite, traveled over 15,000 km (9,300 miles) from their breeding grounds in Hawaii to the continental shelf off of Oregon and northern California during foraging trips to gather food for their young. Food distribution and wind are probably the most significant factors affecting albatross movements. Summer sightings of birds at sea correlate with warm water off Japan and cool water off the North American coast; the common factor is probably food availability. Southerly limits of their marine range correspond with the southern sweep of the California and North Equatorial cold currents. They are more abundant over the outer continental shelf or upwellings. They have been sighted at air temperatures between 6°C and 26°C (12°C - 20°C preferred) and water temperatures between 4.3°– 30°C (12°C - 22°C preferred). They seem to prefer slightly warmer conditions than the Laysan Albatross.

§         Microhabitat for foraging – Black-foots often feed in flocks with other albatross but rarely with other species.

§         Diet – Black-footed Albatross forage predominantly for flying fish eggs and squid, as well as crustaceans and invertebrates found on the surface of the ocean. Fish (mainly eggs of Exocoetidae) constitute 50% of the volume of the stomach contents while squid make up 32% and crustaceans 5%. Crustaceans include deep-water species such as the mysids,Gnathophausia gigas and the isopod, Anuropus branchiatus. Stomach contents also include 10% oil and 12% indigestible materials including pumice, plastics, and squid beaks.

The Black-foot population in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands has slowly recovered from depredations of feather hunters at the turn of the century and from the introduction of rabbits, which destroyed habitat. Subsequently, there was a deliberate destruction of birds and their habitat in order to reduce the incidence of collisions between birds and aircraft.

Monitoring data from three colonies in Hawaii, where over 75% of the world's population nests, suggests that Black-foot numbers may have decreased by 9.6% from 1992 to 2001. This species has been uplisted to Endangered on the basis of a projected future decline of more than 60% over the next three generations (56 years), taking account of present rates of incidental mortality in longline fisheries. In 2000, the population was estimated at 109,000 breeding birds (278,000 total) at 12 localities, including Laysan (23,000 pairs) and Midway (20,500 pairs).

Main threats to the species include:

§         Fisheries – The greatest threats to this species have been from interactions with commercial fisheries in the North Pacific. Black-footed Albatross have been unintentionally killed in both driftnet and longline fisheries (mostly for squid, tuna, halibut and billfish such as swordfish) in the Pacific. In the 1980's, one study estimated over 2% of the total population of Black-footed Albatross was killed by driftnet fisheries. Driftnets were subsequently phased out in 1992. Longline fisheries, though, can be equally destructive. In the mid-1990's, the Hawaiian longline fishery for swordfish killed an estimated 4,500 Black-footed Albatross a year. Current mortality is thought to be at least 2,000 birds per year in US-based fisheries and a further 8,000 in Japanese/Taiwanese fleets. Other threats include loss of nests to waves, pollution, introduced predators, oiling, plastic ingestion and volcanic eruption on Torishima.

§         Marine pollution – Similar to other albatross, Black-foots regularly ingest plastic debris and regurgitate it for the their chicks. Punctures caused by ingested plastics directly kill birds and compromise birds already suffering from heat stress and hunger.

§         Contaminants – Organochlorine levels high enough to result in eggshell thinning and embryonic defects have been detected in Black-footed Albatross. Other contaminants such as lead paint left from military occupation (French Frigate Shoals, Midway Atoll, Kure Atoll) cause fatal deformities in chicks.

§         Global climate change – Black-foots nest close to the shoreline, thus sea level increases may pose a critical threat.

§         Predation – Once the young birds fledge and are alighted on the sea, Tiger Sharks can pose a serious threat, and many Laysan and Black-footed Albatross are lost this way every year.

BirdLife International (2004) Species factsheet: Phoebastria nigripes. Downloadable from http://www.birdlife.org

Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW). 2005. Hawaii’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. Div. Of Forestry and Wildlife, Dept. of Land and Natural Resources, Honolulu, HI. www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/cwcs/process_strategy.htm

Fernandez, P., Anderson, D.J., Sievert, P.R. & Huyvaert, K.P. 2001. Foraging destinations of three low-latitude albatross (Phoebastria) species. Journal of  Zoology 254: 391-404.

Harrison, C.S. 1990. Seabirds of Hawaii. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.

Pratt, H.D., P. L. Bruner, and D. G. Berrett. 1987. The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Sievert, P.R. and L. Sileo. 1993. The effects of ingested plastic on growth and survival of albatross chicks. Pp. 212 – 217 In The status, ecology, and conservation of marine birds of the North Pacific (K. Vermeer, K.T. Briggs, K.H. Morgan, and D. Siegel-Causey, Eds.) Canadian Wildlife Service Spec. Publ., Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Sileo, L., and S.I. Fefer. 1987. Paint chip poisoning of Laysan Albatross at Midway Atoll. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 23: 432-437.

Tickell, W.L.N.  2000.  Albatrosses. Yale University Press, London.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2005. Regional seabird conservation plan, Pacific Region. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Migratory Birds and Habitat Programs, Pacific Region. Portland, (OR): U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Whittow G.C. 1993. Black-footed albatross (Diomedea nigripes). In The Birds of North America, No. 65 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.