Soaring World of the Albatross Quiz

Answer: 22

The various species of albatross are categorized by four genera. These genera are: the great albatrosses (scientific name, Diomedea), the mollymawks (Thalassarche), the North Pacific albatrosses (Phoebastria) and the sooty albatrosses (Phoebetria).

Answer: Their nostrils are on the side of their bill

The long nostrils of albatross reside on the side of its bill, whereas in other Procellariiformes, their nostrils are located on the top of the bill.

Procellariiformes are an order of seabirds consisting of four families: the albatrosses, petrels, storm petrels and shearwaters.

Answer: Prince Charles

During his time in the Royal Navy, Prince Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, became very fond of albatrosses, stating in 2009:

"I remember sailing long distances across the oceans and one of the most marvelous treats of those long passages was to come out on deck and see another albatross or two circling around or following the wake of the ship...there was something encouraging and heartening about the fact that you were being escorted by these extraordinary birds."

Sadly, of all the 22 species of albatross all are considered either vulnerable, threatened or endangered. One particular threat to them is longline fishing hooks. 100,000 albatrosses a year are killed every year by these. Prince Charles now campaigns for more albatross-friendly fishing techniques.

Answer: Tiger shark

Young albatrosses are vulnerable on the surface of the ocean. Once the nestlings have flown their nest, tiger sharks lurk near areas highly populated with albatrosses. In some locations, around 10% of young albatrosses are hunted by tiger sharks each year.

Other common predators of the albatross include humans, cats and rats.

Answer: Waved albatross

The waved albatross has the largest wingspan of any of the birds in the Galapagos. One of their most interesting behaviours is their courtship dance. They circle bills, nod heads, strut and waddle and have been described as making a "moo" sound, like a cow.

Both sexes of waved albatross have a white head, a pale yellow neck and crown, a brown body, with a white breast and under the wing. They have a long, yellow bill and are named the "waved albatross" due to the wave-like patterns adorning their wings.

At times of the year where breeding is over, and the chicks are being raised, the whole population of waved albatross migrates to the east waters just off the Galapagos, settling in waters between Peru and Colombia. They regularly hunt squid at night, when the squid tend to drift closer to the sea surface.

Answer: Amsterdam albatross

The Amsterdam albatross breeds only on Amsterdam Island. It is a brown bird on its upper parts, with a white face, throat, breast and belly. Its bill is pink. It is classed as a great albatross, with a wing-span of 110-130 inches.

Amsterdam island is part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, in the Southern Indian Ocean. The human population of the island is around 30, consisting of research scientists.

The Indian yellow-nosed albatross also breeds on Amsterdam Island, but not exclusively.

Answer: Black-footed albatross

The Leeward islands are also home to around 99% of the Laysan albatross population.

The black-footed albatross (scientific name, Phoebastria nigripes) is different to most other albatrosses due to its all over dark plumage, although all adults have white beneath their eyes and at the base of the beak. Their feet and beak are also black.

The black-footed albatross is one of the three known species of albatross that live in the northern hemisphere, the other two being the short-tailed albatross and the Laysan albatross.

Answer: 2 years

Albatross lay an egg at a time, once every two years. Both male and female albatrosses look after the chick until it is old enough to look after itself.

Answer: New Zealand

Buller's albatross is a small albatross from the mollymark genus. Their plumage consists of white, with a dark back and tail. Their heads may be a darker grey, especially around the eyes, which have a white crescent shape either side.

Unfortunately, Buller's albatross is the most common bycatch from fisheries that employ longlining fishing techniques in New Zealand. Squid trawlers catch them by mistake. However, certain islands, like the Solander Island (off New Zealand's South Island), have seen a population increase over the years, on the occasions the birds have landed to breed.

Answer: Wisdom

Wisdom is a Laysan albatross and was banded (had a small tag placed around her leg for identification) in 1956. She was concluded to be around five years old when she was banded. It is possible Wisdom is older than 70. Wisdom laid an egg in 2014, and it was estimated to be the 36th egg she has laid in her lifetime.

Although albatrosses mate for life, Wisdom's exceptional longevity means she has likely found another mate to continue breeding.

Answer: Gough Island

Gough Island is located around 1,700 miles west of the city of Cape Town, South Africa. There are between 1500-2000 pairs of Tristan albatross that breed on this island, as well as around 5,00 pairs of Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses and 5,000 pairs of sooty albatross.

The island also acts as a breeding ground for various species of petrels and shearwaters, as well as the northern rockhopper penguin.

Answer: Gibson's albatross

Gibson's albatross is named after John Douglas Gibson, an amateur enthusiast of ornithology, the study of birds. He studied albatrosses on the coast of Australia for around 30 years. It is in the great albatross group, and there are disagreements as to whether it is a separate species to, or a subspecies of, the wandering albatross.

Gibson's albatross only breeds on the Auckland Islands, a group of islands of New Zealand. This archipelago is located just under 300 miles south of mainland New Zealand's South Island.

Answer: 12

Experiments on wandering albatross observed at sea indicate that they seem to have an attraction to the smell of fish. Because of technical challenges that come with performing an experiment on the open sea, few studies have been done on the sense of smell of the albatross, so it is not fully understood how it works.

It has been observed that the wandering albatross uses its sense of smell to find around half of its prey at sea. In the experiment, the birds would suddenly swoop upwind, suggesting they had smelled a whiff of something edible.

Answer: Manitoulin Island

Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, within the borders of Ontario, Canada. Black-browed albatross tend to breed much further south.

The Falkland Islands are in the South Atlantic Ocean.

The Antipodes Islands are a territory of New Zealand, located around 530 miles southeast of New Zealand's third-largest island, Stewart Island or Rakiura.

Snares Islands are uninhabited by humans, but are also a territory of New Zealand, located around 125 miles south of New Zealand's South Island.

Black browed albatrosses also breed on Campbell Island, another territory of New Zealand. They even breed as far south as the Kerguelen Islands of the sub-Antarctic, and the Crozet Islands in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Manitoulin Island is perhaps too northerly for the liking of the black-browed albatross.

Answer: Black-footed albatross

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to over 99% of the population of Laysan albatross. This species of albatross is one of the smaller ones, somewhat resembling a gull. It is the second-most common sea bird of the Hawaiian archipelago.

Around 97% of the population of the black-footed albatross are found around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Like the rest of the albatross family, it mates for life.