diagnostics
85-90 cm, 2.4-2.7 kg. Sexes alike although male slightly larger. A small, all-brown albatross with a wedge-shaped tail. It is named for the conspicuously paler mantle which contrasts with the otherwise uniformly chocolate-brown, velvety plumage. Upper breast and mantle pale, yellow-brown, giving the appearance of being bleached relative to the rest of the plumage. White crescent above and behind eye. Bill black with blue sulcus. Juvenile and immature similar to adult. Dark, pale-billed giant petrels (Macronectes spp.) are bulkier with shorter, stubbier wings. The Sooty Albatross P. fusca has yellow sulcus and is uniformly brown, lacking the pale mantle (Ryan 2005).
trophic
The Light-mantled Albatross nests solitarily or in small colonies on sea cliffs and inland cliffs, showing high natal fidelity. It is a biennial breeder, laying a single egg in October-November (Weimerskirch et al. 1986). Breeding success in 1978 on Marion Island was 31% (Berruti 1979). Feeding is mainly through surface-seizing with squid, fish, and crustaceans featuring prominently in the diet (Cherel and Klages 1998). It can dive to 10 m and its dark plumage may be related to nocturnal foraging (Prince et al. 1994, Cooper and Klages 1995). At Marion Island, seabirds comprised an important part of the diet, presumably from scavenging carcasses (Cooper and Klages 1995). It seldom follows or associates with ships (Ryan 2005).
