Amsterdam albatross
Diomedea amsterdamensis Roux et al. 1983 Albatros d’Amsterdam Albatros de la Amsterdam Updated on 25-Aug-2009 |
Critically Endangered | Endangered | Vulnerable | Near Threatened | Least Concern | Not Listed |
Sometimes referred to as |
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Any signifies a link showing the relevant reference.
Order Procellariiformes Family Diomedeidae Genus Diomedea Species D. amsterdamensis
Originally considered to be a Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans; Linnaeus, 1758), D. amsterdamensis was elevated to specific status following review by Roux and colleagues [1 ]. Their justification was largely based on patterns of plumage maturation, morphology and breeding biology and has been widely accepted [2, 3, 4, 5
], although others suggest subspecific status a more appropriate classification given the low level of genetic divergence [6
]. However, an extensive comparison of the exulans complex using more recent data shows that the Amsterdam Albatross is quite different from the other groups, exulans, dabbenena, and antipodensis (Burg, Rains, Milot and Weimerskirch, unpublished). The ACAP Taxonomy Working Group has yet to review the available taxonomic data for D. amsterdamensis.
Conservation Listings and Plans
International
• Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels – Annex 1 [7 ]
• 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species – Critically Endangered [8 ]
• Convention on Migratory Species - Listed Species (Appendix 1) [9 ]
Australia
• Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 [10 ]
- Endangered
- Listed Marine Species
- Listed Migratory Species
• Recovery Plan for Albatrosses and Giant-Petrels 2001-2005 [11 ]
• Threat Abatement Plan 2006 for the incidental catch (or by-catch) of seabirds during oceanic longline fishing operations [12 ]
Western Australia: Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 - Wildlife Conservation (Specially Protected Fauna) Notice 2008 (2) – Fauna that is rare or is likely to become extinct [13 ]
France
• Ministerial Order of 14 August 1998 (Arrêté du 14 août 1998) [14 ]
- Listed Protected Species
Diomedea amsterdamensis breeds biennially. Most eggs are laid in late February-March, hatch in May and the chicks fledge in January-February after spending 235 days in the nest (Table 1). Immature birds begin to return to the island between 4-7 years after fledging but do not begin breeding until they are nine years of age [15 ].
Table 1. Breeding cycle of D. amsterdamensis.
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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At colonies
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Egg laying
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Incubating
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Chick provisioning
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Table 2. Distribution of the global D. amsterdamensis population among Parties to the Agreement that have jurisdiction over the breeding sites of ACAP listed species.
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Argentina
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Australia
|
Chile
|
Ecuador
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France
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New Zealand
|
South Africa
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United Kingdom
|
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Breeding pairs
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-
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-
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-
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-
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100%
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-
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-
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-
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Breeding Diomedea amsterdamensis are endemic to the French Southern Territories (Table 2), nesting only on the Plateau des Tourbières on Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean (Figure 1, Table 3). For the last 4 years, the breeding population has reached 24 to 26 pairs annually (H. Weimerskirch pers. comm.), up from five pairs in the 1980s [15 ]. The total population is estimated to be approximately 140-150 birds (90 adults) (H. Weimerskirch pers. comm.).
Breeding site location
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Jurisdiction
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Years monitored
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Monitoring method
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Monitoring accuracy
|
Annual breeding pairs (last census)
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Amsterdam Island
37° 48’S, 77° 32’E
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France
|
1983-2007
|
A
|
High
|
26 (2007)
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Breeding site name | Jurisdiction | Latitude | Longitude | Size of breeding site (hectares) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Plateau des tourbieres, Amsterdam | France | 37° 50' S | 77° 33' E | 80,000 |

Conservation Listings and Plans for the Breeding Sites
International
• None
France
• National Nature Reserve (Décret no 2006-1211) [16 ]
• Specially Protected Area
French Southern Territories (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, TAAF)
• Area Restricted to scientific and technical research (Arrêté 14 du 30 juillet 1985) [17 ]
The single population of D. amsterdamensis has been monitored continuously since 1983. Annual counts of eggs laid have increased from a low of five in 1984 to a high of 32 in 2001 (Figure 2) [18 ]. This peak was due to poor breeding success in the previous year. Since 2004, the number of breeding pairs has remained at 24-26 per year. Inchausti and Weimerskirch (2001) suggest the D. amsterdamensis population could have been reduced by longline fishing activity that was operating around Amsterdam Island between the mid 1960s and mid 1980s and the observed recovery corresponds to a shift in fishing activity away from the island in the late 1980s and 1990s [19
].
Trend analyses indicate that the Amsterdam Island population is increasing at a rate of 6.7% per year (p < 0.01) [20 ] (Table 4).

Breeding site
|
Current Monitoring
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Trend Years
|
Trend
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% of population for which trend is calculated
|
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Amsterdam Island
|
Yes
|
1983 – 2003
|
6.7 (4.5, 8.9)
|
Increasing
|
100%
|





Breeding site
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Mean breeding success (study period)
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Mean juvenile survival
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Mean adult survival
(±SE, study period)
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Amsterdam Island
|
71.6% (1983 -1994)
|
70.4%
|
95.7% (±1.8%, 1983-1993)
|
ACAP0058
Figure 2. Counts of the number of eggs laid each year with a simple regression line fitted, from Weimerskirch (2004) [18]. See text for assessment of population trends.
The extremely low population size and restricted breeding area of this species, limited to one breeding site, combine to significantly increase the threat to its survival (Table 6).
Breeding site
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Human disturbance
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Human take
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Natural disaster
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Parasite or Pathogen
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Habitat loss or degradation
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Predation (alien species)
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Contamination
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Amsterdam Island
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No a
|
No
|
No
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High? b
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No a
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High (cats)
Low (rats) c
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No
|



The feeding behaviour and diet of D. amsterdamensis has not been studied [9 ]. Like other great albatrosses, they probably surface-seize squid, fish and crustacea [12
].
An understanding of the marine distribution of D. amsterdamensis is confounded by its similar appearance to other albatross species such as the Wandering Albatross, D. exulans. Satellite tracking data forD. amsterdamensis have been collected from incubating adults which predominantly forage in waters within 1500 km of ].
The satellite tracking data indicate that D. amsterdamensisoverlap with four regional Fisheries Management Organisations, the IOTC, CCSBT, SWIOFC (South-West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission) and SIOFA (Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement), the last two aimed at ensuring the long-term conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources other than tuna (Figure 1; Table 7). France is the main Range State for D. amsterdamensis.
Table 7. Summary of the known ACAP Range States and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations that overlap with the marine distribution of D. amsterdamensis. See Figure 1 and text for list of acronyms.
Frequency of occurrence in region | |||
Resident/ Breeding and feeding range | Foraging range only | Few records - outside core foraging range | |
Known ACAP Range States | France | South Africa Australia | New Zealand? |
Regional Fisheries Management Organisations | IOTC CCSBT SWIOFC SIOFA | WCPFC? |
CCSBT - Convention for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna
IOTC - Indian Ocean Tuna Commission
SWIOFC - South-West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission
SIOFA - Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement
WCPFC - Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
Due to the low population size, few records exist that quantify the threats this species faces at sea. Longline fishing activities around the island during the 1970s and 1980s may well have contributed to the population decline at that time [24 ]. The foraging range of D. amsterdamensis extends up to 4000 km from the breeding site, and overlaps with longline fishing operations targeting tropical tuna species [26, 27
].
ACAP0059
Key Gaps in Species Assessment
Urgent information on the disease status of the species is required as the diseases identified in adjacent albatross populations may also threaten D. amsterdamensis with extinction. Appropriate management and mitigation measures to control and limit spread of the disease should be implemented as a priority.
References
[1] Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels http://www.acap.aq[2] Birdlife International 2007. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org/
[3] Bonn Convention (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals). http://www.cms.int/
[4] French Government. Arrêté du 14 août 1998 fixant sur tout le territoire national des mesures de protection des oiseaux représentés dans les Terres australes et antarctiques françaises. Le Journal officiel de la République française (JORF) n°236 du 11 octobre 1998 page 15405. http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/home.jsp
[5] Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). http://www.deh.gov.au/epbc/
[6] Department of Environment and Heritage (2001). Recovery Plan for Albatrosses and Giant-Petrels 2001-2005. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/recovery/albatross/index.html
[7] Department of Environment and Heritage (2006). Threat Abatement Plan for the incidental catch (or bycatch) of seabirds during oceanic longline fishing operations
[8] Roux JP, Jouventin P, Mougin JL, Stahl JC and Weimerskirch H (1983). Un nouvelle albatros Diomedea amsterdamensis n. sp. decouvert sur I’Ile Amsterdam (37°, 50’S, 77°35’E). Oiseau Revue fr. Orn. 53:1-11.
[9] Tickell WLN (2000). Albatrosses. Pica Press: Sussex, UK.
[10] Robertson CJ and Nunn GB (1998). Towards a new taxonomy for albatrosses. In: Albatross biology and conservation (Ed. Robertson G and Gales R) pp. 13-19. Surrey Beatty & Sons: Chipping Norton.
[11] Marchant S and Higgins PJ (1990). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Oxford University Press: Melbourne.
[12] Brooke M (2004). Albatrosses and petrels across the world. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
[13] Penhallurick J and Wink M (2004). Analysis of the taxonomy and nomenclature of the Procellariiformes based on complete nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Emu 104:125-147.
[14] Weimerskirch H, Brothers N and Jouventin P (1997). Population dynamics of wandering albatross Diomedea exulans and Amsterdam albatross D. amsterdamensis in the Indian Ocean and their relationships with long-line fisheries - conservation implications. Biological Conservation 79:257-270.
[15] Birdlife International (2004). Tracking Ocean Wanderers: the global distribution of albatrosses and petrels. Results from the Global Procellariiform Tracking Workshop, 1-5 September, 2003, Gordon’s Bay, South Africa. Birdlife International: Cambridge UK.
[16] French Government. Décret n°2006-1211 du 3 octobre 2006 portant création de la réserve naturelle des Terres australes françaises. Le Journal officiel de la République française (JORF) n°230 du 4 octobre 2006 page 14673. http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/home.jsp
[17] TAAF. Arrêté 14 du 30 juillet 1985 creant zones réservées à la recherche scientifique et technique. http://www.taaf.fr/rubriques/environnement/fichesPratique/environnement_fichesPratique_zonesProtegees.htm
[18] Weimerskirch H (2004). Diseases threaten Southern Ocean albatrosses. Polar Biology 27:374-379.
[19] Inchausti P and Weimerskirch H (2001). Risks of decline and extinction of the endangered Amsterdam albatross and the projected impact of long-line fisheries. Biological Conservation 100:377-386.
[20] Wilcox C (2006). Review of trends monitoring methods as applied to seabird populations (AC2 Doc 32). Second Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee (AC2). http://www.acap.aq
[21] Pannekoek, J and van Strien, A. 2006. TRIM 3.53 (TRends & Indices for Monitoring data). Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg. http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/menu/themas/natuur-milieu/methoden/trim/default.htm
[22] Jouventin P, Martinez J and Roux JP (1989). Breeding biology and current status of the Amsterdam Island Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis. Ibis 131:171-182.
[23] Micol T and Jouventin P (1995). Restoration of Amsterdam Island, South Indian Ocean, following control of feral cattle. Biological Conservation 73:199-206.
[24] Del Hoyo J, Elliot A and Sargatal J (Eds). (1992). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.
[25] Shirihai H (2002). A complete guide to Antarctic wildlife. Alula Press: Degerby.
[26] Birdlife International (2007). Species factsheet: Diomedea amsterdamensis http://www.birdlife.org
[27] Gales R (1998). Albatross populations: status and threats. In: Albatross Biology and Conservation (Ed. Robertson G and Gales R) pp. 20-45. Surrey Beatty & Sons: Chipping Norton.
Michael C. Double, Rosemary Gales, Nadeena Beck, and Wieslawa Misiak.
Henri Weimerskirch
Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, France.
Contact: Richard Phillips
raphil@bas.ac.uk
Contact: Rosemary Gales
Rosemary.Gales@dpiw.tas.gov.au
Contact: Michael Double
Mike.Double@aad.gov.au
Global Seabird Program:
Contact: Cleo Small
Cleo.Small@rspb.org.uk
Maps - Frances Taylor
Data Contributors - Henri Weimerskirch, Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, (CNRS UPR 1934), France.
Support from Institut Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV – programme 109).
Contact: Rosemary Gales
Rosemary.Gales@dpiw.tas.gov.au
Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. 2008. Species assessments: Amsterdam albatross. Downloaded from http://www.acap.aq on