Field metabolic rates (FMR) and activity patterns of black-browed albatrosses Thalassarche melanophrys were measured while at sea and on nest during the incubation stage at Kerguelen Island, southwestern Indian Ocean. Activity-specific metabolic rates of five albatrosses at sea (FMRat-sea) were measured using doubly labeled water (DLW), and by equipping birds with wet-dry activity data loggers that determined when birds were in flight or on the water. The metabolic rates of four birds incubating their eggs (FMRon-nest) were also measured using DLW. The mean+/-SD FMRat-sea of albatrosses was 611+/-96 kJ kg(-1) d(-1) compared to FMRon-nest of 196+/-52 0 kg(-1) d(-1). While at sea, albatrosses spent 52.9+/-8.2% (N = 3) of their time in flight and they landed on the water 41.2+/-13.9 times per day. The FMR of black-browed albatrosses appear to be intermediate to that of three other albatross species. Based on at-sea activity, the power requirement of flight was estimated to be 8.7 W kg(-1) (or 4.0 x predicted BMR), which is high compared to other albatross species, but may be explained by the high activity levels of the birds when at sea. The FMRat-sea of albatrosses, when scaled with body mass, are lower than other seabirds of similar body size, which probably reflects the economical nature of their soaring flight.

1. Theoretical models predict that animals will vary their effort to maximize different currencies such as time and energy when the constraints of reproduction change during breeding, but this has been poorly studied in free-ranging animals. 2. Foraging effort (energy per unit time) was examined by comparing mass changes, foraging costs and activity-specific behaviours of Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans Linnaeus) during the incubation and chick-brooding stages. In 1998, 38 albatrosses (20 during incubation and 18 during brooding) were injected with doubly labelled water and equipped with satellite transmitters and activity data loggers. 3. During incubation, albatrosses travelled 3.7 times farther and were at sea 3.2 times longer, yet foraging costs were significantly lower than trips made during brooding (incubation 4.52 +/- 0.50 SD W kg(-1) vs brooding 4.98 +/- 0.55 SD W kg(-1)). 4. The rate of daily mass gain decreased significantly with time at sea during incubation whereas the rate of daily mass gain increased significantly with time at sea during brooding. 5. Foraging effort was higher during brooding, suggesting that birds were minimizing time at sea to maximize the rate of food delivery to chicks. In contrast, foraging effort was lower during incubation, suggesting that birds were maximizing time at sea and minimizing the energy costs of foraging. 6. Foraging costs were also different between sexes. However, this was related to body size differences and not to differences in foraging effort as suggested in previous studies.

Light-based archival tags are increasingly being used on free- ranging marine vertebrates to study their movements using geolocation estimates. These methods use algorithms that incorporate threshold light techniques to determine longitude and latitude. More recently, researchers have begun using sea surface temperature (SST) to determine latitude in temperate regions. The accuracy and application of these algorithms have not been validated on free-ranging birds. Errors in both geolocation methods were quantified by double-tagging Laysan (Phoebastria immutabilis Rothschild) and black-footed (P. nigripes Audubon) albatrosses with both leg-mounted archival tags that measured SST and ambient light, and satellite transmitters. Laysan albatrosses were captured and released from breeding colonies on Tern Island, northwestern Hawaiian Islands (23 degrees 52'N, 166 degrees 17'W) and Guadalupe Island, Mexico (28 degrees 31'N, 118 degrees 10'W) and black-footed albatrosses from Tern Island. Studies were carried out between December 2002 and March 2003. For all birds combined, the mean +/- SD great circle (GC) distance between light-based locations and satellite-derived locations was 400 +/- 298 km (n=131). Errors in geolocation positions were reduced to 202 +/- 171 km (n=154) when light-based longitude and SST-based latitude (i.e. SST/light) were used to establish locations. The SST/light method produced comparable results for two Laysan albatross populations that traveled within distinctly different oceanic regions (open ocean vs more coastal) whereas light-based methods produced greater errors in the coastal population. Archival tags deployed on black-footed albatrosses returned a significantly higher proportion of lower-quality locations, which was attributed to interference of the light sensor on the tag. Overall, the results demonstrate that combining measures of light-based longitude and SST-based latitude significantly reduces the error in location estimates for albatrosses and can provide valid latitude estimates during the equinoxes, when light-based latitude measurements are indeterminate.