Black-browed albatross

How it lives

Pairs build a mud nest up to about 50 cm high and reuse it each year. They lay a single egg between late September and early November, incubate it for about 68 to 71 days, and chicks fledge after about 120 to 130 days, around April. Birds start breeding at about 7 to 10 years old. Individuals have been recorded surviving for more than 50 years. In the Falklands they often nest beside rockhopper penguins.

Where it goes

Falklands birds arrive in about September to breed and leave by about the end of April. Adults forage over more than 200 miles (320 km) per trip. Young birds go north to southern Brazil and return to breed after about 7 to 10 years.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Global: about 600,000 breeding pairs on 12 southern ocean islands (2005, Wikipedia). Falkland Islands: the largest population, about 399,416 pairs in 2007 (Wikipedia). Falklands Conservation gives about 500,000 pairs, around 70 percent of the world total, mainly on Steeple Jason and Beauchene Island. At Bird Island, counts rose from about 10,200 pairs in 2000/01 to 15,525 pairs in 2006 and 15,719 pairs in 2010 (ACAP). At Steeple Jason in 2020/21, pairs were 1 percent below 2019, and the long-term monitoring trend suggests a stable population. Breeding success there stayed below the annual average for the sixth year in a row. The species is the bird most often killed by fisheries, mainly through longline and trawl gear. IUCN status: Least Concern (2018).