Life begins at 40? Banding recaptures show that the Waved Albatross can live for four decades

Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui (Department of Sciences, Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador) and colleagues have published a short communication in the open-access journal Marine Ornithology on the longevity of Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata based on recaptures of banded birds.

Of 296 recaptured adults on Española Island, Galápagos in 2015 four banded as chicks, and thus of known age, were from 37.7 to 40.8 years old.

Waved Albatross with a hatching egg, photograph by Kathryn Huyvaert 

Reference:

Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G., Harris, M.P., Sevilla, C.R. & Huyvaert, K.P. 2016.  Longevity records for the Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata.  Marine Ornithology 44: 133-134.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 29 June 2016