I wonder if that bird is an impavida x melanophyrs hybrid? I'm not sure of
their appearance, but there is an article in Emu from 2001 that suggests
hybrids exist (and that they have dark eyes);
http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=MU00074
Jeremy
On Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 8:57 AM, Nikolas Haass <> wrote:
> Thanks Chris,
>
> As a result of my request, the report with the photo has been taken off
> Eremaea now. The other report of a Grey-headed Albatross (two other
> observers) from the same spot and same day is still on Eremaea. Not sure if
> they were referring to a different bird.
>
>
> Yes, Chris, also in my experience the eye-patch of a young Campbell
> Albatross (2nd year, but also possibly 1st year) is very different from
> that of an adult Campbell Albatross and looks more like some smudged
> make-up. To me the eye-patch appears cleaner in Black-brows of the same
> age. But again, this may be very variable and I haven't seen any
> peer-reviewed evidence supporting that. The 'thing' on the link you are
> referring to looks like an adult Black-browed Albatross with an extreme
> eye-brow somewhat reminiscent of that of an adult Campbell Albatross.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Nikolas
>
>
> ----------------
> Nikolas Haass
>
> Sydney, NSW
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Chris Corben <>
> To: Nikolas Haass <>
> Cc: "" <>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 3, 2012 7:44 AM
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] "Grey-headed Albatross" on Eremaea NSW
>
> Certainly looks like a Black-browed to me.
>
> From what I remember, the eye-patch difference between melanophris and
> impavida is apparent at a young age, long before the eye-colour means
> anything. So I'd go with melanophris.
>
> Then again, what is this thing?
>
>
> http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/E1/E107F013-8EBE-4D25-834B-FCFD542F0E55/Presentation.Large/Black-browed-albatross.jpg
>
> Maybe the eye-patch is more variable than I thought.....
>
> Cheers, Chris.
>
>
> On 07/01/2012 06:02 PM, Nikolas Haass wrote:
> > Hi Rob and Birding-Aus,
> >
> > Thanks. Yes, the consensus so far - based on the mentioned field marks -
> is that this bird is NOT a Grey-headed Albatross.
> >
> > However, I don't agree that the underwing in 1st and 2nd year
> Black-browed/Campbell Albatross are diagnostic for either species.
> Black-browed goes from solid charcoal grey underwings at the time of
> fledging through stages similar to the "hairy armpit pattern" of a Campbell
> Albatross. Therefore in my opinion the underwing pattern cannot be used to
> tell them apart at this age. To my personal experience, the eye-brow shape
> of the Maroubra bird points more towards Black-browed (although admittedly
> this is also not evidence-based and therefore not useful until proven).
> Unfortunately, we can't see the eye colour in the photo, which would also
> be useless in the first year but becomes more and more amber in the
> following years [and finally yellow] in Campbell.
> >
> > Grey-headed Albatross is a VERY RARE bird off NSW and heavily
> over-reported due to confusion with young Black-browed or Campbell
> Albatrosses. While juvenile and adult Grey-headed Albatross are straight
> forward to ID, 2nd and 3rd year birds are notoriously difficult to ID and
> those are the ones that cause most confusion. Adult Grey-headed Albatross
> has to my knowledge never been reported off NSW.
> >
> > Also over-reported are Salvin's Albatross (due to confusion with young
> Shy/White-capped) and Little Shearwater (due to confusion with Fluttering
> Shearwater in contrasting light conditions)
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Nikolas
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