South Georgia & The South Sandwich Islands. Save Albatross– 2006

South Georgia & The South Sandwich Islands has issued the birdlife stamp series concerning the theme of  ” Save Albatross ” on year 2006. The issuance presented in one souvenir sheet comprised of two stamp Black-Browed Albatross and White-Chinned Petrel, one set of 4 stamps featured Black-Browed Albatross. White-Chinned Petrel, Southern Giant Petrel, Wandering Albatross.

Black Browed Albatross

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 upper-wings that contrast with the orange, rump, and under-parts.

The under-wing is predominantly white with broad, irregular, black margins. It has a dark eyebrow and a yellow-orange bill with a darker reddish-orange tip.

The Black-browed Albatross is circumpolar in the southern oceans, and it breeds on 12 islands throughout the southern oceans. In the Atlantic Ocean, it breeds on the Falklands, Islas Diego Ramírez, and South Georgia.The Black-browed Albatross feeds on fish, squid, crustaceans, carrion, and fishery discards.

White-Chinned Petrel

The White-chinned Petrel or Procellaria aequinoctialis, is a large shearwater in the family Procellariidae and has averages 55 cm  in length and black feet.. This large petrel is sooty-black and has some white on its throat and chin. Its primaries can have a silvery appearance underneath. Its bill may be horn or yellow with a black tip, and also black between the nostrils.

The White-chinned Petrel ranges around the Southern Oceans as far north as South Australia, Peru and Namibia, and breeds colonially on scattered islands.

Their diet is composed mainly of krill followed by fish. The White-chinned Petrels feed by surface seizing and by undertaking shallow dives,and they will readily follow ships to collect fisheries discards, making them vulnerable to long line fisheries.This birds high infant mortality rate and high loss of life due to long-line fisheries has caused the IUCN to classify it as Vulnerable.

Wandering Albatross

The Wandering Albatross, or Diomedea exulans, is a largest seabird from the family Diomedeidae which has a circumpolar range in the Southern Ocean. The Wandering Albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird, with the wingspan between 2.51–3.50 m .The longest-winged examples verified have been about 3.7 m.

As a result of its wingspan, it is capable of remaining in the air without beating its wings for several hours at a time (travelling 22 m for every meter of drop). The length of the body is about 107–135 cm .The adults have white bodies with black and white wings.

Southern Giant Petrel

The Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus), also known as the Antarctic Giant Petrel,  is a large seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly with the similar Northern Giant Petrel.  Adults of the two species can be separated by the colour of their bill-tip: greenish in the Southern and reddish in the Northern.

The Southern Giant Petrel  is the largest of the Precellariidae and measures 86–99 cm  with a wingspan of 185–205 cm . The male weighs approximately 5 kg  and the female 3–8 kg . They have a very large yellow bill, with a green tip and greyish-brown legs.This Petrel will feed on krill, squid, and offal in coastal and pelagic waters, and unlike most other Procellariiformes, this bird will eat carrion and even attack smaller seabirds.