Birds Australia Rarities Committee Unusual Record … Albatross...Birds Australia Rarities Committee Unusual Record Report Form Full Name: Nikolas K. Haass (NKH), Raja W. Stephenson

Birds Australia Rarities Committee

Unusual Record Report Form

Full Name: Nikolas K. Haass (NKH), Raja W. Stephenson (RWS) &

Dan Mantle (DM)

Office Use

Address: Phone No:

98 William Street Home: 02-95726392; mobile 0424603579

Leichhardt Fax/Email:

NSW 2040, Australia [email protected]

Species Name:

Chatham Island Albatross, adult

Scientific Name:

Thalassarche eremita

Date(s) and time(s) of observation: 3 September 2011; 3:39pm

How long did you watch the bird(s)? 30 minutes

First and last date of occurrence: 3 September 2011

Distance to bird: down to 2 m

Site Location: Continental shelf break off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS

Habitat: Pelagic, on the continental shelf right at the top of the shelf break.

Sighting conditions:

Good light conditions, clear visibility, sun in the back. See attached pictures

Optical aids used: Leica 12x50 BA (NKH); Canon 7D, Canon 400 mm, f5.6 (RWS); Canon 7D, Canon 300 mm, f4, 1.4x converter (DM)

Were other observers present? Do any of the other observers disagree with your identification?

Stuart Pickering, David Mitford, Micha Jackson, Pete Kyne, Rob Hynson, Paul Brooks, Jeremy O’Wheel, Els

Wakefield. Nobody disagreed with the ID.

To your knowledge, is the species seen frequently at this site? Rarely

Did you use a field guide?

The bird was identified in the field without using a field guide. References used subsequently to prepare this report

were:

ENTICOTT, J. & D. TIPLING (1997): Seabirds of the World. London. • HARRISON, P. (1983): Seabirds, an Identification

Guide. Beckenham. • HARRISON, P. (1987): Seabirds of the World. A Photographic Guide. London. • HOWELL, S.N.G.

(2006) Immature Shy Albatrosses (March/April photo quiz answers). Birding 38: 56–59. • HOWELL, S.N.G. (2009):

Identification of immature Salvin’s, Chatham and Buller’s Albatrosses. Neotropical Birding 4: 19-25. • DEL HOYO, J.,

A. ELLIOTT & J. SARGATAL (eds) (1992): Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1. - Barcelona. • MARCHANT, S. &

P.J. HIGGINS (eds) (1990). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 1: Ratites to Ducks.

Melbourne. • ONLEY, D. & P. SCOFIELD (2007): Albatrosses, Petrels & Shearwaters of the World. Princeton. • REID, T.

& D.J. JAMES (1997): The Chatham Island Mollymawk (Diomedea eremita) in Australia. Notornis 44: 125-128. • DE

ROY, T., M. JONES & J. FITTER (2009): Albatross, Their World, their Ways. CSIRO. • SHIRIHAI, H. (2007, 2nd

ed.): A

Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife. London.

How confident are you of your identification? 100%

Other details: ---

Physical Description

Summary description:

(1) Number: one individual was observed.

(2) Age, sex: Adult.

(3) Size and shape: Medium-sized albatross; somewhat ‘compact’ with relatively thick neck, short tail and broad wings;

smaller than present Shy but larger than present Black-browed Albatross.

(4) Plumage colour and pattern: From a distance the bird appeared almost black-hooded and yellow-billed. When the

bird approached the vessel, it became obvious that the hood was dark/medium gray with an only slightly paler forehead

(conspicuously darker hood and forehead than in salvini) and sharp demarcation to the strongly contrasting white chest

and underparts (contrast again more conspicuous than in salvini). Underwing pattern – similar to salvini – mainly white

with narrow black leading and trailing edge, thumb mark at the base of the forewing similar to salvini but smaller than

in typical cauta/steadi, notch at the carpal area and fully dark primaries (as opposed to cauta and steadi). No strong

contrast between the hood and the grey upperparts. The grey colour of the upperparts extended all the way down to the

rump (further down than in cauta/steadi and also than in salvini), and was only somewhat paler than the black

upperwings (therefore less contrast between upperparts and upperwings than in cauta/steadi and also than in salvini).

The dark ‘Shy complex monobrow’ causing the ‘classic stern Shy look’ appeared more like a shadow on the dark grey

background of the hood.

(5) Colour of bill, eyes and legs/feet: large yellow bill; bright yellow maxillary unguis, culminicorn and peripheral

parts of the ramicorn; duller yellow latericorn and central parts of the ramicorn, dark mandibular unguis; bright orange

skin at the base of the lower mandible; iris dark brown; legs/feet blue-gray.

(6) Calls: none heard

(7) Behaviour, movements, flight pattern, feeding, interactions with other birds, comparisons with other species:

Nothing to support specific identification.

Figure 1: Chatham Albatross (left panel) and for comparison Salvin’s Albatross (right panel) off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS,

3 September 2011 (Photo: Raja Stephenson)

Figure 2: Chatham Albatross off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, 3 September 2011 (Photo: Raja Stephenson)









Figure 11: Chatham Albatross off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, 3 September 2011 (Photo: Dan Mantle)

Figure 12: Salvin’s Albatross (same bird as in Fig. 1, right panel) off Eaglehawk Neck, TAS, 3 September 2011 (Photo:

Raja Stephenson)

Other species seen: Fairy Prion 1000+ (100), Slender-billed Prion 2 (2), Grey-backed Storm-petrel 5 (2), White-faced

Storm-petrel 3 (1), Sooty Shearwater 1, ‘Fluttering-type’ Shearwater 1, Common Diving-Petrel 30+ (8), Cape Petrel 10+

(8), Soft-plumaged Petrel 2 (1), White-headed Petrel 6 (1), Great-winged Petrel 30+ (8) – predominantly macroptera but

including at least 2-3 gouldi, Northern Giant Petrel 2 (2), Northern Royal Albatross 1 adult, Southern Royal Albatross 1

imm., Wandering Albatross 6 (2) – incl. at least one good candidate for gibsoni, the rest were considered to be mostly

gibsoni/exulans, Black-browed Albatross – melanophrys 2 (1), (Indian) Yellow-nosed Albatross 3 (1), Buller’s Albatross

1, Shy Albatross – cauta/steadi 60 (12), Salvin’s Albatross 1 adult, Light-mantled Sooty Albatross 1, Crested Tern 10

(3), Australasian Gannet 12 (4), Silver Gull, Pacific Gull, Kelp Gull, White-bellied Sea-Eagle 2 (2)

Other species with which you think it might be confused and how these were eliminated? Adult Salvin’s Albatross Th. salvini (one adult was seen the same day; see Figs. 1 & 12) show a white forehead, a paler

grey hood and less contrast between hood and chest/underparts. Their bill is olive grey with contrasting yellow

maxillary unguis and culminicorn.

Adult Shy/White-capped Albatross Th. (c.) cauta/steadi (60 birds were seen during the day) show a much paler (almost

white) head with only the cheeks pale grey. The thumb mark at the base of the forewing is often larger and the notch at

the carpal area much less obvious. The white of the underwings extends much further toward the wing tip due to white

primary bases. There is a strong contrast between white head and grey upperparts and the white rump is more extensive.

Also the contrast between grey upperparts and black upperwings is stronger. The dark ‘Shy complex monobrow’

causing the ‘classic stern Shy look’ is more conspicuous. The bill is almost wholly pale grey with a yellow maxillary

unguis.

Juvenile Shy complex albatross often show very dark hoods, however these birds also show juvenile bill colouration and

can therefore easily be ruled out, as the observed Chatham Albatross clearly showed an adult bill colour.

Was the description written from notes and/or sketches made (tick box):

during the observation or; ⌧ shortly after the observation or; � from memory; ⌧ with the aid of the photographs

Please indicate supportive evidence available. Was the bird: X photographed, � taped or � video taped? If yes to any of these, by whom? RWS, DM, Rob Hynson

All photographs by Raja Stephenson; see also:

http://www.adarman.com/Birds/Albatross/Chatham-Island-Albatross

What experience have you had with the species in question?

NKH has extensive experience with seabirds having been pelagic trip leader on many trips off of California, New

Jersey/New York and Delaware/Maryland and having participated on many pelagic trips off of North Carolina,

Galapagos, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and New Zealand. NKH has been an active member in the Rare

Birds Committees of Hessen, Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and New Jersey, USA. NKH has seen 15

albatross species around the world and 13 in Australia. Although NKH had never seen a Chatham Albatross before, he is

very familiar with Salvin’s Albatross from several observations off Sydney and Wollongong, NSW, Eaglehawk Neck,

TAS (this trip), and Kaikoura, NZ.

RWS has extensive experience with seabirds having participated on many pelagic trips off of North Carolina, New

Jersey/New York, Delaware/Maryland, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and New Zealand. RWS has seen 13

albatross species around the world - all in Australia. Although RWS had never seen a Chatham Albatross before, she is

very familiar with Salvin’s Albatross from several observations off Sydney and Wollongong, NSW, Eaglehawk Neck,

TAS (this trip), and Kaikoura, NZ.

DM has extensive experience with pelagic seabirding including participation in many Australian pelagics from New

South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. He has not previously seen Chatham

Albatross but has seen Salvin's Albatross on a fair number of occasions.

Signature:

Date: 3 September 2011

Documents

Birds Australia Rarities Committee Unusual Record … Albatross...Birds Australia Rarities Committee Unusual Record Report Form Full Name: Nikolas K. Haass (NKH), Raja W. Stephenson