May 15, 2011 - Albatross-New Zealand

We just got back from a wonderful trip to New Zealand. One of the highlights for me was a boat ride out on the ocean to photograph seabirds, including a variety of Albatross species. The boat left from Kaikoura, which is located on the northeast shore of the South Island. Less than a half hour away from shore we found a large flock of seabirds, including seven species of Albatross. This is a Wandering Albatross, the most numerous species that we saw. It is also the largest species of albatross, with a body length of 3.5 to 4.5 feet. It has the longest wingspan of any living bird species: up to 11.5 feet.

AlbatrossWanderingEncounterpelagictripKaikoura20110419

The smaller species of Albatrosses are called Mollymawks. On the left is a White-capped Mollymawk and on the right is a Buller’s Mollymawk. Many of these species have white bodies and dark wings so the color of the bill and the head become good distinguishing features. The Buller’s (on the right) was the most colorful and probably my favorite species of Albatross.

AlbatrossWhitecappedBullersEncounterpelagictripKaikoura20110419

You can see how this Black-browed Albatross got its name. The orange/pink bill helps identify this species. We had really close looks at all the birds because the captain of the boat threw out frozen fish livers that the birds just love. They all come flocking around the boat and many were no more than 6 – 10 feet away.

AlbatrossBlackbrowedEncounterpelagictripKaikoura20110419

This is the second largest Albatross species, the Southern Royal Albatross. They, as well as most other Albatrosses, nest on small, remote islands in the South Pacific Ocean. However, there is a small nesting colony of Southern Royal Albatross on the New Zealand mainland at the tip of the Otago Peninsula. It takes eleven months for the single egg to hatch and for the chick to leave the nest. As a result, these birds only have a chick every other year.

AlbatrossRoyalSouthernEncounterpelagictripKaikoura20110419

Here is a Northern Royal Albatross.

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This is the seventh species, the Salvin’s Mollymawk. We only saw one of these birds

MollymawkSalvin'sAlbatrossEncounterpelagictripKaikoura20110419

Here is a dispute between two Wandering Albatrosses over who gets to eat first. These are very large birds so the fights were quite spectacular.

AlbatrossWanderingsquabblingEncounterpelagictripKaikoura20110419

This shows you the wingspan of a Southern Royal Albatross. The long thin wings of all Albatross species allow them to soar gracefully for hours without ever flapping their wings. This is a definite advantage because they need to travel very long distances across the oceans in search of food.

AlbatrossRoyalSouthernflightEncounterpelagictripKaikoura20110419

Here’s a photo that shows how Albatrosses fold those long wings when they land. The wing consists of three parts. The part that is closest to the body folds backwards. The middle part folds forward allowing the third part of the wing to fold back under the middle part.

I have several galleries on my web site showing all my photos from our New Zealand trip. Here’s a link to those galleries. http://www.earlorfphotos.com/NewZealandTrip-April2011

MollymawkBuller'sfoldingwingAlbatrossEncounterpelagictripKaikoura20110419