As winter draws to a close, after months of foraging at sea, Marion Island’s summer-breeding seabirds return to where they fledged. The few islands between 40°S and 60°S cover less than two per cent of the earth’s surface. This scarcity of land in the Southern Ocean means that these islands provide critical breeding sites for seabirds.
Sooty and Light-mantled albatrosses kick-start the summer breeding season, gracing the skies with spectacular synchronous aerial courtship displays between August and September. The ridges of Marion Island, like the Greyheaded Albatross Ridge on the southern coast, become packed with large colonies of raucous Grey-headed Albatrosses around October. Wandering Albatrosses, among the few seabird species that spend the entire year at Marion Island, breed once every two years and arrive in November as the previous year’s fledglings test their flight muscles before leaving.
This story is from the March/April 2024 edition of African Birdlife.
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This story is from the March/April 2024 edition of African Birdlife.
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