Encounters with the Albatross II

 

White-capped Albatross (Thalassarche steadi).
Stewart Island, New Zealand.  

Pelagic cruises off the coast of New Zealand give unmatched views of many different seabirds.  Our recent trip yielded six species of albatrosses and a dazzling selection of other birds.  Here is more of what we saw in New Zealand waters.

Hutton's Shearwater (Puffinus huttoni).
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Hutton's Shearwaters.
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Hutton’s Shearwaters (Puffinus huttoni) are small seabirds with a 30-inch wingspan.  They are brown above and white below.  Hutton’s Shearwaters nest on the mainland rather than offshore islands and this makes them vulnerable to introduced predators, particularly pigs that root the young birds from their burrows. The Kaikoura Mountains host the only two natural breeding colonies of Hutton’s Shearwaters in the world.  Because of their limited breeding area and other threats Hutton’s Shearwaters are an endangered species, so conservationists established a nesting colony surrounded by a predator-proof fence on the Kaikoura Peninsula.  We were lucky enough to see many thousands of Hutton’s Shearwaters flying and fishing in large flocks in the waters off Kaikoura.

Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea).
Foveaux Strait, New Zealand. 

Sooty Shearwaters (Ardenna grisea) are dark gray-brown and have a 3.5-foot wingspan.  They nest on sub-Antarctic islands in the South Atlantic and South Pacific.  After Sooty Shearwaters raise their young, they undertake an epic migration, taking a figure-eight route across the great oceans.  Some birds fly 300 miles a day and during their migration can cover 40,000 miles before returning to their breeding colony.  We found Sooty Shearwaters flying in the Foveaux Strait and off Dunedin.  

Westland Petrel (Procellaria westlandica).
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand.

Westland Petrels (Procellaria westlandica) are a larger than Sooty Shearwaters and breed only in New Zealand.  After the breeding season they disperse west to Australia and east to South America.  Like Hutton’s Petrels, these dark brown birds nest in burrows on the mainland but because of their size and strong beak can protect themselves from nest predators such as dogs.  

Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides).
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand.

Southern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialoides) are classified in the family Procellariidae along with the albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels but they bear a strong resemblance to gulls.  They have a circumpolar distribution around Antarctica and reach the southern ends of South America, Africa, Australia and most of the waters surrounding New Zealand.  These pale birds fly low over the surface and join flocks of other sea birds to feed on squid, small fish and crustaceans.  

Pintado Petrel (Daption capense).
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

Pintado Petrel.
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Pintado Petrel.
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Pintado Petrels (Daption capense) are known by several names, Cape Petrels, Cape Fulmars and even Cape Pigeons.  Whatever the name these striking black-and-white petrels command attention.  They are small, travel in large flocks and sometimes follow boats where they catch small prey on the surface.  Pintado Petrels breed on the Antarctic coast and southern islands throughout the Southern Ocean.  After the breeding season they travel north but are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere.  Pintado Petrels were the most numerous seabirds on our pelagic cruises. 

Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus).
Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Brown Skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus) are large, impressive birds related to gulls and terns.  They are dark brown with white patches on the wings.  Brown Skuas are top predators in the sub-Antarctic where they feed on fish, some of which they steal from other seabirds.  Brown Skuas also eat other birds, including penguin chicks, mammals and carrion.  A single Brown Skua flew a dozen laps around our boat off Stewart Island, giving us a close look.   

The word albatross has an interesting history.  It is derived from the archaic Spanish and Portuguese word alcatraz.  This name was applied to large seabirds including pelicans and gannets.  Alcatraz Island with its notorious federal prison in San Francisco Bay was named for the seabirds that nested there. When European sailors started venturing into the South Atlantic and Pacific, they found their ships being followed, sometimes for days, by giant white seabirds.  English sailors corrupted alcatraz to albatross, converting alca to alba, the Latin word for white, to give us the name albatross. 

Albatrosses had significant meaning to early sailors.  The bird was viewed as a symbol of good fortune.  Some thought they were the souls of lost seamen, following ships to get a glimpse of their former lives.  Samuel Taylor Coleridge immortalized these ideas in his 18^th century epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.  In the poem, the Ancient Mariner kills an albatross and brings disaster to his ship and his crewmates.  To atone for his crime the Ancient Mariner is forced to wear the dead albatross tied about his neck .  This idea comes down to us today.  If someone is carrying a heavy burden of guilt they are said to have an albatross around their neck.  

White-capped Albatross.
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

White-capped Albatross.
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

We saw several species of albatrosses on the Stewart Island pelagic.  There were about 40 White-capped Albatrosses (Thalassarche steadi) flying around the boat and landing on the water.  White-capped Albatrosses are endemic to New Zealand and have an 8.5-foot wingspan, are gray on the face, have a white cap and a gray beak with a yellow trip.  Juvenile birds can range as far as the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic. 

Buller's Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri).
Steward Island, New Zealand. 

Buller's Albatross.
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

Buller's Albatross.
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

As we watched the White-capped Albatrosses a lone Buller’s Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri) appeared.  This small albatross has a wingspan of about six feet, a gray head, black wings and a black bill with yellow on the top and tip.  Buller’s Albatrosses breed on islands south of New Zealand.  After the breeding season some fly west to Australia and others cross the South Pacific to the waters off South America.  The Buller’s Albatross stayed with our boat for a few minutes and then was off.   Southern Royal Albatrosses (Diomedea epomorphora) were also off Stewart Island, and I described our encounter with them in a previous blog post.  

Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea sanfordi).
Taiaroa Head, New Zealand. 

The Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) is the largest of all the albatrosses with wings that stretch more than 10 feet. They have dark upper wings, white heads and bodies and pink bills.  Like their close relatives the Southern Royal Albatrosses they have a black line where the upper and lower mandibles meet.  As with most Albatrosses, Northern Royals typically breed on offshore islands. Taiaroa Head, near Dunedin, hosts the only mainland breeding colony of Northern Royal Albatrosses in the world.  This is where we saw them flying over the sea and setting up nests on the cliffs. 

Northern Royal Albatrosses on their nests.
Taiaroa Head, New Zealand. 

Our pelagic trips in New Zealand gave us intimate encounters with six different species albatrosses and many other types of seabirds.  They ranged in size from the tiny Common Diving Petrel to the enormous Northern Royal Albatross.  These birds lead lives in one of the harshest and most starkly beautiful environments on the planet.  Many of these birds are threatened or endangered and  I feel privileged to have spent a little time with them.

Encounters with the Albatross I

 

Salvin's Albatross (Thalassarche salvini).
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand.

New Zealand is the seabird capital of the world, so says the World Wildlife Fund.  With over one third of the world’s seabirds present in New Zealand waters, it is an unmatched place to observe these magnificent birds.  New Zealand is made up of two main islands, North Island and South Island and the country stretches for 1000 miles. Diane and I recently visited New Zealand on a tour organized by Naturalist Journeys, where we rode ferries and took four pelagic cruises.  On these boats we encountered albatrosses and many other seabirds.  

Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor).
Half Moon Bay, Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Beyond the South Island lies Stewart Island.  Among the boulders of the Half Moon Bay we found Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor).  These small, flightless birds swim with their wings at lightning speed and snap up small fish.  The Little Penguin is endemic to New Zealand and at sunset they clamber up the rocks to shelter for the night in small caves.  The old name for this bird was Blue Penguin and they really are blue, with white bellies and stand 16 inches tall.  

 

Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator).
Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand. 

Australasian Gannet.
Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand.

Australasian Gannets (Morus serrator) are large seabirds closely related to our Northern Gannets. They range from the southern and eastern coasts of Australia to New Zealand.  Australasian Gannets are white with black on the wings, a pointed tail, a golden-brown head with a strong, dagger-like beak.  They plunge, sometimes from great heights, beak first to catch fish underwater.  One morning while cruising Queen Charlotte Sound on the South Island we saw Australasian Gannets, other sea birds and Dusky Dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) feeding on a large school of small fish.   

Australasian Gannets, Fluttering Shearwaters (Puffinus gavia)

and Dusky Dolphins (Lagenorhhychus obscurus) feeding. 

Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand. 

Video by Diane Coggin

Common Diving Petrel (Pelicanoides urinatrix).
Foveaux Strait, New Zealand.

The smallest seabird we encountered was the Common Diving Petrel (Pelicanoides urinatrix).  They have a wingspan of just over a foot with black upper surfaces and white undersides.  Common Diving Petrels rapidly flap their wings unlike the larger petrels that spend much of their time gliding. They also use their wings to swim underwater catching small crustaceans.  The local name for these fast-flying birds is Buzzy Bee for their frantic flight pattern.  We saw Common Diving Petrels in the Cook Strait between North and South Islands and in the Foveaux Strait between the South Island and Stewart Island. 

 

Fluttering Shearwater (Puffinus gavia).
Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand.

Fluttering Shearwater.
Foveaux Strait, New Zealand. 

Fluttering Shearwaters (Puffinus gavia) are a little larger than Common Diving Petrels and have dark brown backs and white beneath.  They feed by snatching small marine creatures from the surface but will also dive for their prey.  Fluttering Shearwaters breed only in New Zealand, but immature birds disperse to Australia and the Solomon Islands.  This was another bird we saw on ferry runs between islands. 

Northern Giant Petrel (Macronectes halli).
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

The most bizarre seabirds we saw were the Northern Giant Petrels (Macronectes halli) and Southern Giant Petrels (Macronectes giganteus).  With a wingspan approaching seven feet they are truly giants and dwarf the other petrels and shearwaters in their family, the Procellariidae.  Their coloration is dark, and their massive beaks are strongly hooked. Giant Petrels are predators and scavengers. They can catch fish, kill and consume other seabirds and eat carrion up to the size of seals and whales. 

Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteaus).  
Taiaroa Head, New Zealand. 

Northern and Southern Giant Petrels are similar in appearance.  One way to distinguish them is Northern Giant Petrels have a pink tip to the bill while the Southern Giant Petrels beak tip is pale green.  We found Northern Giant Petrels off the Kaikoura Peninsula and a single Southern Giant Petrel off Taiaroa Head near Dunedin, both off the coast of the South Island.   

Petrels, shearwaters and albatrosses are all members of the order Procellariiformes.  These birds have tubular nasal passages on the top of the beak.  The tubes contain the nostrils, and these birds have a highly developed sense of smell for location prey at sea.  The nasal tubes also house salt glands that desalinate the sea water the birds drink and expels a concentrated salt solution.   

The largest members of the order Procellariiformes are the Albatrosses.  There are about 20 species of albatrosses. Their taxonomy is undergoing revision so the number of recognized species is under debate. Some albatross species have wingspans of over 11 feet and tend to be long-lived with some reaching more than 50 years of age. We saw six species on pelagic cruises around New Zealand.  

Antipodean Albatross (Diomedea antipodensis).
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Antipodean Albatross.
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

The sea off the Kaikoura Peninsula was the location of our first albatross sightings.  Captain Gary of Albatross Encounter took us out in his small jet boat to cruise the waters off the peninsula on a rainy, windy morning. Captain Gary trailed a block of frozen fish parts, chum, behind the boat to attract seabirds. In North America it is unusual to find large seabirds so close to the coast but on this pelagic trip our boat was never out of sight of land.   The most common albatross at Kaikoura was the endangered Antipodean Albatross (Diomedea antipodensis). This species was formed when the Wandering Albatross was split into four species.  With its 10-foot wingspan, white head and body and black on the upper wing surface these albatrosses were an impressive sight following the boat and landing just off the stern.  

Southern Royal Albatross (Diomedea epomorpha).
Stewart Island, New Zealand. 

The Southern Royal Albatross (Diomedea epomorphora) is even bigger than the Antipodean Albatross with a wingspan of over 10 feet.  Their coloration is similar to that of the Antipodean Albatross but a reliable way to distinguish them is a thin black line where the top and bottom mandibles meet.  This field mark is called the lips.  We saw Southern Royal Albatrosses at Kaikoura and on the Stewart Island pelagic.

Salvin's Albatross .
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Salvin's Albatross.
Kaikoura Peninsula. New Zealand. 

The most elegant of the albatrosses off Kaikoura was the Salvin’s Albatross (Thalassarche salvini).  Salvin’s are slightly smaller than the Antipodean with a relatively dainty 8.5 foot wingspan.  Salvin’s Albatrosses have a gray head and body, dark wings and are white below.  They also have a distinctive yellow beak with a black smudge at the tip and dark eyelines that gives them a fierce look.  

A mixed flock of Antipodean Albatrosses, Northern
Giant Petrels and Pintado Petrels (Daption capense).
Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand. 

Bobbing in a small boat in the Pacific with scores of seabirds flying around, screeching and landing on the water near us was an unmatched encounter with the albatrosses and other birds. 

More encounters are coming in a future blog.