Family DIOMEDEIDAE G.R. Gray, 1840

Museums

Regional Maps

• Diomedeidae Gray, G.R. 1840. A List of the Genera of Birds, with an indication of the typical species of each genus. London : R. & J.E. Taylor viii 80 pp. [Date published Apr 1840: published before Apr.] [78] [original spelling; Conserved in the Official List of Family-group Names in Zoology or in the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology. Op. 656. Diomedea Linnaeus, 1758, Systema Naturae, Ed. 10, vol. 1, p. 132 (gender: feminine) (type species, by designation by Gray, 1840 (List Genera Birds: 78): Diomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758, Systema Naturae, Ed. 10, vol. 1, p. 132) (Aves). Op. 67 diomedeae, Pediculus, Fabricius, 1775, Syst. Entomol.: 808, as interpreted by the neotype designated by Clay, 1940 (Sci. Rept. British Graham Land Exped., 1: 299-302, figs. 1, 2, 4a, 5a, 6a) (Insecta, Mallophaga). Op. 656].

  Type genus:

   Diomedea Linnaeus, 1758.

  Secondary source:

   Brodkorb, P. 1963. Catalogue of fossil birds. Part 1 (Archaeopterygiformes through Ardeiformes). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum. Biological Sciences 7: 179-293 [241]; Bock, W.J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1-281 [130].
• Phoebetriidae Mathews, G.M. 1946. A Working List of Australian Birds including the Australian Quadrant and New Zealand. Sydney : G.M. Mathews 184 pp. [11].

  Type genus:

   Phoebetria Reichenbach, 1853.

  Secondary source:

   Bock, W.J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1-281 [130].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Brodkorb, P. 1963. Catalogue of fossil birds. Part 1 (Archaeopterygiformes through Ardeiformes). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum. Biological Sciences 7: 179-293
• Bock, W.J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1-281

Introduction

Albatrosses form this distinctive family, and their grouping has been supported through DNA analysis and interpretation of the family (Nunn et al. 1996). This provides the basis for the current taxonomic stance of the family and their sequence of genera is followed by subsequent authors such as Christidis & Boles (2008). The Diomedeidae are separated from the other families within the Procellariiformes on the basis of genetics and morphological characteristics, mainly on their nasal tubes. The nasal tubes are situated along the sides of the bill; other morphological characteristics include the absence of a hind toe while the remaining three anterior toes are interlinked with webbing. The family possibly had their origins some 35–30 million years ago in the Oligocene period although the suggestion has been made that an earlier representative Tytthostonyx existed in the late Cretaceus at 70 mya.

Today this family is centred in the southern oceans with small populations populating the central and north-western Pacific. Fossil records indicate a once more cosmopolitan distribution across all oceans. The number of extant species continues to be debated: estimates vary from 14 to 24 (Robertson & Nunn 1998; Penhallurick & Wink 2004; Dénes & Silveira 2007). Four albatross genera are identified: Diomedea — great albatrosses, Phoebastria — Northern Pacific populations, Thalassarche — mollymawks, and Phoebetria — sooty albatrosses. Within these are 14 species, ten of which are regularly observed in Australian territorial waters while others are considered vagrants. Only one, >Thalassarche cauta the Shy Albatross, nests on an island within Bass Strait; others breed on Australian subantarctic territorial possessions.

The diomedeids, some representing the largest marine birds, are more often seen in singles or small groups although some exhibit highly gregarious tendencies about feeding localities such as ocean up-swells, which provide an abundance of food. They feed primarily on the water’s surface or by diving and scavenging, but primarily on cephalopods obtained from the water’s surface. Other foods include fish and smaller marine animals. One subgroup (the sooty albatrosses) has been recorded as taking birds. All have lengthy wings (the extent often reaching over three and a half metres) thatt have narrowed and enable the birds to glide with ease over extended distances. They all have tube-noses and, like other species with an aquatic penchant, their legs are situated towards the rear of the body. The group is generally silent although the occasional utterance of a grunting note may be heard. Their primary use of vocalisations is about the nest when the pair is mating or in greeting as the pair alternates incubation or care of the nestling. The majority of the species frequent the southern oceans where they move following ocean and wind currents. They are principally pelagic, coming to Australian coastal waters during the cooler months and then only infrequently. Concentrations formerly gathered at potential food sources such as those provided by sewerage outfalls but as these finally diminished the birds moved elsewhere.

For Australian species, colonial breeding for most species occurs on subantarctic islands, apart from T. cauta, where established pairs reunite every second year at their previous nest site. Courtship involves a series of vocalisations in conjunction with an elaborate display. The nest is a depression in level ground often accompanied by the provision of a small amount of vegetation. Both adults incubate a single egg which is large, white (becoming nest stained) and often marked by an indistinct pale brown ring about its larger end. The young is attended by both adults, one relieving the other after several weeks at sea, and is finally left alone while both parents feed. The young is precocial, being covered with a fine down that quickly develops into a thick layer of feathers. Young birds are ready to depart from the nest site when fully grown at up to 12 months.

Excluded Taxa

Vagrant Species

CAVS:0738
DIOMEDEIDAE: Phoebastria immutabilis (Rothschild, 1893) [Laysan Albatross; single individual reported on Norfolk Island] — Christidis, L. & Boles, W.E. 1994. The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories. Monograph 2. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union iv 112 pp.; Simpson, K. & Day, N. 2004. Birds of Australia. Camberwell, Victoria : Penguin Group (Australia) Edn 7, pp. 382. [286]; Christidis, L. & Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 288 pp. [18]

CAVS:9960
DIOMEDEIDAE: Thalassarche chlororhynchos (Gmelin, 1789) [Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross]

CAVS:0863
DIOMEDEIDAE: Thalassarche eremita Murphy, 1930 [Chatham Albatross]

General References

Christidis, L. & Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 288 pp. [84-87]

Dénes, F.V. & Silveira, L.F. 2007. Cranial osteology and taxonomy of albatrosses of genus Dimedea Linneaus, 1758 and Thalassarche Reichenbach, 1853 (Procellariformes: Diomeidae). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. São Paulo 47: 43-61

Nunn, G.B., Cooper, J., Jouventin, P., Robertson, C.J.R. & Robertson, G.G. 1996. Evolutionary relationships among extant albatrosses (Procellariiformes: Diomedeidae) established from complete cytochrome-b gene sequences. Auk 113: 784-801

Penhullurick, J. & Wink, M. 2004. Analysis of the taxonomy and nomenclature of the Procellariiformes based on complete nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The Emu 104: 125 – 147

Robertson, C.J.R. & Nunn, G.B. 1998. Towards a new taxonomy for albatrosses. pp. 13-19 in G. Robertson and R. Gales. Albatross Biology and Conservation. Chipping Norton : Surrey Beatty pp. 312.

History of changes