birding-aus

"Grey-headed Albatross" on Eremaea NSW

To: robert morris <>, "" <>
Subject: "Grey-headed Albatross" on Eremaea NSW
From: Nikolas Haass <>
Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2012 16:02:52 -0700 (PDT)
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
 
----------------
Nikolas Haass

Sydney, NSW


________________________________
From: robert morris <>
To: ;  
Sent: Monday, July 2, 2012 4:55 AM
Subject: "Grey-headed Albatross" on Eremaea NSW
 

 
Hi Nikolas et al

Yes I agree looks like a imm Campbell to me (underwing looks good for 
Campbell). The bill shape and color doesn't look good for grey-headed. Cheers 
Rob

> Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2012 06:46:59 -0700
> From: 
> To: 
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] "Grey-headed Albatross" on Eremaea NSW
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> There are two reports including one photo of a bird claimed as a Grey-headed 
> Albatross on Eremaea NSW. To me the combination of bill shape and colour, 
> eye-brow shape and head/neck colour make this bird a juv (or possibly 2nd 
> year) Black-browed Albatross (or possibly Campbell, which to my experience 
> should have more black around the eye at this stage).
> Any comments?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Nikolas
>  
> ----------------
> Nikolas Haass
> 
> Sydney, NSW
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