Black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 3

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Species Information

Name and classification

Classification follows the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU 2005). First described by Audubon in 1839 as Diomedea nigripes. Nunn et al. (1996) recommended re-instating Phoebastria and moving all four North Pacific albatrosses to this genus to resolve problems of paraphyly within the Diomedea. Official taxonomic status of the Black-footed Albatross was changed in 1997 (AOU 1998; Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) 2006; NatureServe 2006).

Vernacular names

Most vernacular synonyms for the Black-footed Albatross originated with mariners. These names are sometimes also used to refer to albatross species in general (Jameson 1961), and include gooney or gooney bird, alternatively spelled gony, goony and goonie (Mayr 1945; Yocum 1947; Alexander 1955; Hatler et al. 1978; American Heritage Dictionary 2004). Other common names in the US are Black Albatross, moli and, in Hawaii, ka’upu (US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) 2005a; Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources 2005). In French, a secondary common name for the species is Albatros à pattes noires (Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) 1991) and in Spanish the vernacular synonym is Albátros pata negra (ITIS 2006). In Japan the word for albatrosses in general is aho-dori, or fool birds; the Black-footed Albatross specifically is called Kuroashiahoudori (Oikonos 2005).

Morphological description

At 64-74 cm long and with a wingspan of 193-216 cm, the Black-footed Albatross is a relatively small member of the Diomedeidae (Figure 1; Whittow 1993). Reported mean body mass ranges from 2,800 to 4,975 g (Whittow 1993; Nunn and Stanley 1998; Sibley 2003, K. Morgan, pers. comm.). Adult birds are completely dusky brown except for a whitish area around the base of the bill and under the eye, and white plumage over the base of the tail and undertail coverts (Whittow 1993; Hyrenbach 2002). This white plumage increases in extent until around the age of first breeding (i.e., five to six years of age; Hyrenbach 2002). Bill colour varies from dark chestnut with blackish base to wholly glossy blackish grey (Harrison 1983). Legs and feet are black. Juvenile birds have darker plumage than adults and lack white upper and undertail coverts. Flight is steady on long, slender wings (Sibley 2003). At sea, the Black-footed Albatross may be confused with immature Short-tailed Albatross (P. albatrus) but the bill and feet of the latter are pink rather than dark, and overall size of Short-tailed Albatross is larger at 84-94 cm in length and with a wingspan from 213-229 cm (Harrison 1987). Black-footed Albatross sexes are similar although males are generally larger than females, and have a longer beak (Rice and Kenyon 1962a; Whittow 1993); according to Warham (1990), sexual dimorphism is such that males and females can be distinguished when mated pairs are standing together. Birds nesting in Japan are reportedly smaller than birds of Hawaiian origin (Walsh and Edwards 2005).

Black-footed and Laysan (P. immutabilis) albatrosses occasionally interbreed. Hybrid offspring are pearly grey with a dark grey back, pale ventral surface and a dark bill (Fisher 1972; Whittow 1993).

Figure 1. Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes. (Photo by L.K. Blight.)

Genetic description

Over the past decade, the availability and application of genetic analyses has reawakened earlier controversy (cf. Alexander et al. 1965) regarding classification of the Diomedeidae (Nunn et al. 1996; Nunn and Stanley 1998; Robertson and Nunn 1998; Penhallurick and Wink 2004). While the debate continues on the taxonomy of southern hemisphere albatross species (Nunn et al. 1996; Robertson and Nunn 1998; Penhallurick and Wink 2004), monophyly and reclassification of the North Pacific albatrosses (Genus Phoebastria) from their previous lumping with the southern genus Diomedea is well-supported, based on morphology and behaviour as well as mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene sequencing (Nunn et al. 1998; Penhallurick and Wink 2004). The split between the genera Diomedea and Phoebastria occurred approximately 13.2 million years ago, based on amino acid distances, while within Phoebastria the Black-footed Albatross is a well-established lineage as it diverged from its closest relative, the Laysan Albatross, about 7.9 million years ago (Penhallurick and Wink 2004).

For present-day populations of Black-footed Albatross, analysis of mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome-b gene) indicates significant genetic differentiation (Φ_ST= 0.914; P<0.0001 by 1000 permutations) between birds breeding in Hawaii and Japan, suggesting that these two populations may be reproductively isolated despite considerable overlap in their at-sea distributions (Walsh and Edwards 2005). No further studies exist to support this hypothesis, although genetic sequences of ticks living on Black-footed Albatross in Japan and Hawaii (Argasidae: Carios capensis (Neumann)) indicate the possibility of albatross-mediated gene flow between tick populations at these sites (Ushijima et al. 2003). There is little evidence to indicate the origin of birds visiting Canadian waters except for one study that examined 13 birds caught as bycatch in British Columbia-based Pacific longline fisheries (2002-2003) and found them to be all of Hawaiian origin (Walsh and Edwards 2005). 

Designatable units

Not applicable.