Tristan Albatross
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| Diomedea dabbenena Mathews, 1929 |
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Diomedea exulans dabbenena |
The Tristan Albatross (Diomedea dabbenena) is a large seabird from the albatross family. One of the great albatrosses of the genus Diomedea, it was only recognised by some authorities as a full species in 1998. While not all scientists believe it is a full species, retaining it as a subspecies, the Wandering Albatross, a 2004 study of the mitochondrial DNA of the Wandering Albatross species complex supported the split. Other studies have shown it to be the most genetically distinct member of the Wandering superspecies. It is, however, practically indistinguishable from the Wandering Albatross at sea; the Tristan Albatross is smaller and has a slightly darker back. Due to the difficulty in distinguishing them from Wandering Albatrosses, their distribution at sea is still not fully known, but the use of satellite tracking has shown that they forage widely in the South Atlantic, with males foraging west of the breeding islands towards South America and females to the east towards Africa. At sea, they feed mostly on squid, particularly from the family Histioteuthidae.
The Tristan Albatrosses are endemic to the islands of the Tristan da Cunha group and Gough Island. The majority of the world's population nest of Gough, around 1500 pairs. There are also colonies on Inaccessible Island. They were formerly threatened by introduced species, rats, cats and pigs, but these have now been removed from their breeding islands. Today the main threat to the species is believed to be long-line fishing.
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[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2005). Diomedea dabbenena. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is endangered
- Brooke, M. (2004). Albatrosses And Petrels Across The World: Procellariidae. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK ISBN 0-19-850125-0
- Burg, T.M., & Croxall, J.P., (2004) "Global population structure and taxonomy of the wandering albatross species complex". Molecular Ecology 13: 2345-2355. [1]
