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Phoebastria immutabilis (Laysan
albatross)
[= Diomedea immutabilis]
Laysanse malmok [Afrikaans]; Swartwangalbatros [Afrikaans];
Swartwangmalmok [Afrikaans]; Laysanalbatros laysan [Dutch]; Albatros de
Laysan [French]; Laysanalbatroß [German]; Albatroz de Laysan [Portuguese]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Ciconiiformes
> Family: Diomedeidae
Distribution and habitat
Breeds on north-western Hawaiian islands, with smaller
colonies on Bonin Island, off Japan and islands off the coast of Mexico. In the
non-breeding season it heads north to the Bering Sea, although there is one
isolated record of it in 1983 near the south-central extreme of southern African
waters.
Food
It mainly eats fish, squid, crustaceans and pelagic
gastropods, often following fishing vessels in search of food or grabbing prey
from the surface of the sea.
Threats
Vulnerable, largely due to longline mortalities,
illegal driftnet fisheries, exploitation for food and feathers and disturbance
at colonies. The growth of chicks is often stunted by the consumption of plastic
litter, which adults consider to be food.
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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