Thalassarche chrysostoma, Grey-headed Albatross is a species of bird in the genus Thalassarche Chrysostoma.
The grey-headed albatross can fly for long periods of time at sea, using the principles of aerodynamics very efficiently to glide over the surface, sometimes for hours without even flapping its wings. The grey-headed albatross can travel up to 5,000 kilometers in 12 days. Grey-headed albatrosses usually only come ashore when they are young, and they can even sleep on the surface.
Near Antarctica, their main diet is fish, cuttlefish and shrimp. They also feed on the waste discarded by ships, so they sometimes fly with them.
The grey-headed albatross will land on the island during the breeding season, nesting and laying eggs, and they will not escape when they meet people. Albatrosses reach sexual maturity late, starting to breed at 5-8 years of age. The female lays one or two eggs. Albatrosses are monogamous and take turns being responsible for hatching the eggs. The nesting period is about 70 days, and both parents take turns to incubate the eggs and raise the chicks, which take about 4 months to mature and become independent. The grey-headed albatross can live for 40 to 60 years.
On 7 August 2018, the IUCN listed the grey-headed albatross as endangered due to the rapid population decline on the subantarctic island of South Georgia, with a total population size of about 250,000, and the primary driver of the decline is likely to be accidental mortality from longline fisheries.
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