Derivation
Thalassarche - Gk, thalassa, sea; ?: carteri - Thomas Carter (1863 - 1931), an English ornithologist who collected and published extensively on birds in Western Australia, but was born and died in Yorkshire, England
Habitat
Marine, in sub-tropical and warmer sub-Antarctic waters.
Atlantic (Antarctic) (NB), Australia (NB), Eastern Indian Ocean (NB), French Southern Territories (B), Heard Island and McDonald Islands (NB), Indian Ocean (Antarctic) (B) (NB), Madagascar (NB), Mozambique (NB), New Zealand (B) (NB), Norfolk Island (NB), South Africa (B), Southeast Atlantic (NB), Southwest Pacific (NB), Western Indian Ocean (B) (NB).
Vagrant to Antarctica.
Population
Estimated population is 85,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Food
Cuttle-fish and other marine life, as well as galley-refuse from ships.
Voice
Guttural coughs when fighting for food and during courtship displays. Also bill clapping, and calling with head titled back and a bleating cry in all displays.
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche carteri) [XC883152]
by id from Near Brown's sea mount, Tasman Sea, Australia (call)
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche carteri) [XC263831]
by Greg McLachlan from New South Wales, Australia (call)
Nest
A cylindrical column of earth, about 30 - 60 centimeters in height, on the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
1; white marked with brown, mainly at the larger end; ellipsoidal; about 96 x 62 mm. Incubation: about 78 days; both sexes, in shifts.
Young
Fledge in about 126 days. Fed by both parents.
Subspecies
Diomedea chlororhynchos (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into chlororhynchos and carteri and both placed in the genus Thalassarche (Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche chlororhynchos) and Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche carteri)) following Brooke (2004).
Some consider 1000000839* and 1000000790* to be subspecies rather than full species (see 1000000839*).
Similar Species
Buller's Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri), which has prominent gold strips on both the top and bottom of the bill, has a greyer head and neck, that contrasts with its white forehead and crown, and a somewhat broader black leading edge on the underwing, and immatures with immature Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophris), which has a faint collar around the foreneck, and has a much darker underwing.
References
See References.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet