The Family Life of the Royal Albatross

New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 535, 23 September 1949, Page 16

The Family Life of the Royal Albatross

| Written for "The Listener’ |

by

L. E.

RICHDALE

N a previous article on the Royal Albatross, I tried to give some idea of the problems besetting those who were trying to make it possible for the albatrosses to survive on Otago Peninsula. Doubtless, "many people would like to know something of the

family aftlairs of these most interesting birds. In 1937, when I began to study the birds in earnest,

| little of an authentic "nature was _known of the Royal Atbatross; | therefore a, most interesting field _lay before me. The first task was to band | the birds in order that each one would _be known as an individual. This opera_tion was successfully carried out without handling the birds, so that there was no risk of their deserting the area. : The method of banding was to lie down Rie er the bird and gradually affix the band. The whole procedure might take half an hour, but I always feel that it'is the duty of a worker among birds (even a photographer) to make sure that the interests of the birds do not suffer. 3 ‘In the month or so before the single egg is laid, the female is seldom ashore; the male is the bird most frequently at the nest. On The Snares Islands this same procedure is adopted by Buller’s Mollymawk. Space, however, does not permit me to analyse this interesting aspect of behaviour. Shortly after the egg

is laid, and generally on the same day, the male Albatross takes charge of the egg and the female goes off to sea. The egg, which is white and about the size of a pound of butter, is laid in a nest on the ground. Both birds take turns at incubation, but within my experience the length of the turns varies considerably from one to 14 days. No food is taken by the incubating bird until after it is

relieved by its mate. In Buller’s Molymawk, one partner, which I was watching, incubated without relief and with-

out food for 24 consecutive days. The Laysan Albatross on Midway Island in the North Pacific Ocean has been known to incubate without relief, for 18 days; the performance of the Royal Albatross is therefore not unique. The total period of incubation-a lengthy one-which was unknown previously, proved to vary from 78 to 80 days. This span, as far as I know, is the longest for any bird in the world, The Kiwi is a close second, taking from 75 to 78 days according to reports received in the south. It is indeed remarkable that New Zealand should possess both records. With the hatching of the chick, an interesting stage in the breeding cycle of the Albatrosses is opened. Destined to remain ashore for approximately seven and a-half months before being capable of flying, the chick is fed by both parents by a process of regurgitation. For the first three months the chick is a most beautiful: ball of thick white

down, broken only by its jet black eye. After that, the black feathers of the wings begin to show through the white down, and the young bird slowly assumes adult appearance, Taking turn about, the parent birds guard the chick until it is four to six weeks old, . but after that it is left alone at the nest while both parents fish. The chick is fed approximately twice’ a week for the first three months, once by each parent. There is, however, considerable variation in methods by ‘individual pairs of birds in most proceedings, so that it is difficult to make hard and fast rules. The most spectacular discovery that came from my watching the Albatrosses was the explosion of what is known as the starvation theory. There was a belief, expressed freely in the press of 1938, that when the chick was three or four months old it was deserted for ever by its parents and_ thereafter lived entirely without further food, subsisting on its fat until after it flew and found food for

itself. As I am something of an iconoclast, with more faith in the book of Naturé, it was with considerable excitement that I watched the chick as he reached the age of three months. Was I to be the first human being to witness this amazing desertion? For 16 consecutive days at the crucial stage, I remained constantly at the nest from daylight until dark. Sand was placed all around the nest so that the movements of the parents could be checked when I was absent. The first upset came when I noticed that the chick at the three to fourmonthly period was not even fat, weighing only 12lbs.; subsequently he attained 22%4lbs. Gradually, while watching day after day, I became aware that not only was the chick not going to be deserted, but that he was actually being fed more frequently. From twice a week the rate rose to five times a week and did not revert to the twice-weekly interval until shortly before the chick flew. The reason for the increased feeding was obvious; it coincided with the growing of the feathers, when apparently more and not less food is required. And so the book of Nature proved the more accurate. Subsequently, it was found that the chick was never deserted by the parents; in fact, he deserted them, for one day on their arrival to feed him, the parents found that their babe was no longer waiting for them, Year’s Holiday for Parent Birds The departure of the chick occurred only two weeks before the new breeding season was due to commence, which meéant that, as Albatrossés were thought to breed annually, the two parents under discussion would have only two weeks’ rest before once more commencing their 1144 months’ breeding cycle. Nature, however, has ordered otherwise. Albatross parents successful in rearing a chick take a year’s holiday, so that the birds breeding in the new season are different birds altogether. In other words, Royal Albatrosses breed every second year. This procedure has been rigidly followed by every set of parents responsible for the rearing of the 15 chicks which have left the breeding grounds to date, so that apparently there is no variation in this rule. * The question of the age to which Albatrosses live has yet to be determined, but they ate certainly long-lived. Three of the 15 young reared returned to the breeding atea. So far not one has bred, and it appears that they do not breed until they are about 10 years old. This is most remarkable, and the fact also suggests that the birds live to a great age. 7 A final word concerns what I call the unemployed birds-that is to say, birds which in any given season for a variety of reasons are not. breeding. It is on these birds that the future development of the colony depends. They are timid, not used to the presence of people, and are not anchored to a fixed spot as are the breeding birds. Undue movement or disturbance of any kind among them tends to keep them away from the breeding atea, a condition which makes it harder to save the colony. It is, therefore, essential that while unemployed Lirds are on the breeding grounds, trying to form marriage bonds for future breeding, they should be assured of Privacy.