Black-browed Albatross – Falkland Islands 2003.

 

Falkland Islands Post collaborated with Bird Life International issued the stamps series depicted the Black-browed Albatross in the souvenir sheet. The sheet have printed logo of Bird Life International and logo of Falkland Conservation. The theme is Save the Albatross.

The Black-browed Albatross or Thalassarche melanophrys, is a large sea bird of the albatross family Diomedeidae.It is referring to its black plumage around its eyes, the bird was given the name melanophrus which comes from two Greek words; melas or melanos meaning black, and ophrus which means the eyebrow.

The Black-browed Albatross is a medium-sized albatross, at 80–95 cm long with a 200–240 cm wingspan and an average weight of 2.9–4.7 kg . They can have a natural lifespan of over 70 years. It has a bright pink saddle and upperwings that contrast with the orange, rump, and underparts. The underwing is predominantly white with broad, irregular, black margins. It has a dark eyebrow and a yellow-orange bill with a darker reddish-orange tip.

In the Atlantic Ocean, The Black-browed Albatross breeds on the Falkland Islands, Islas Diego Ramirez, and South Georgia.They feed on fish, squid, crustaceans, carrion, and fishery discards.This species normally nests on steep slopes covered with tussock grass and sometimes on cliffs, but they nests on flat grassland on the coast of the Falkland Islands.