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.